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STATE  OF  ILLINOIS 


STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

FRANK  W.  DeWOLF,  Director 


BULLETIN  No.  31 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS  IN  ILLINOIS  IN  1914 


Area  south  of  the  Colmar  oil  field 
By  William  C.  Morse  and  Fred  H.  Kay 

The  Colmar  oil  field — a  restudy 
By  William  C.  Morse  and  Fred  H.  Kay 

The  Allendale  oil  field 
By  John  L.  Rich 

Anticlinal  structure  in  Randolph  County 
By  Stuart  Weller 


Oil  and  £as  in  Gillespie  and  Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

By  Wallace  Lee 


Work  in  cooperation  with 
U .  S.  Geological  Survey 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 
1915 


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STATE  GEOLOGICAL  COMMISSION 


Edward  F.  Dunne,  Chairman 
Governor  of  Illinois 

Thomas  C.  Chamberlin,  Vice-Chairman 

Edmund  J.  James,  Secretary 
President  of  the  University  of  Illinois 


Frank  W.  DeWolf,  Director 
Fred  H.  Kay,  Asst.  State  Geologist 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


State  Geological  Survey 

i 

University  of  Illinois,  April  26,  1915 

Governor  E.  F.  Dunne,  Chairman,  and  Members  of  the  Geological 

Commission. 

I  submit  herewith  a  report  on  oil  investigations  during  1914  and  recom¬ 
mend  that  it  be  published  as  Bulletin  No.  31. 

The  first  two  papers,  by  W.  C.  Morse  and  Fred  H.  Kay,  relate  to  the 
new  oil  fields  of  western  Illinois  which  were  first  surveyed  in  1912  and 
proved  productive  near  Colmar  in  1914.  A  restudy  of  the  original  area  is 
presented,  and  also  a  detailed  report  on  new  territory  south  of  the  Colmar 
field,  which  was  surveyed  last  season. 

Another  paper  prepared  for  the  bulletin  by  J.  L.  Rich  relates  to  the 
comparatively  new  Allendale  field  in  Wabash  County. 

The  fourth  paper,  by  Stuart  Weller,  describes  a  prominent  anticlinal 
fold  in  Randolph  County,  which  is  believed  to  merit  drilling  in  search  of 
oil  or  gas. 

The  last  paper  by  Wallace  Lee  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  in 
cooperation  with  this  office,  outlines  the  possibilities  of  oil  and  gas  accumu¬ 
lation  in  the  Gillespie  and  Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  of  Macoupin,  Mont¬ 
gomery,  and  Bond  counties.  The  producing  fields  near  Carlinville  and 
Litchfield  are  described  in  detail. 

Oil  production  in  Illinois  continues  to  be  second  only  to  that  of  coal. 
The  old  fields  are  nevertheless  on  the  decline,  and  new  areas  must  be  dis¬ 
covered  if  important  production  is  to  continue.  The  Geological  Survey  is 
devoting  much  attention  to  the  problem. 

Very  respectfully, 

Frank  W.  DeWolf,  Director 


CONTEN T  S 


Page 

THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD .  8 

THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD .  37 

THE  ALLENDALE  OIL  FIELD .  57 

ANTICLINAL  STRUCTURE  IN  RANDOLPH  COUNTY .  69 

OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES .  71 


(6) 


Scolti 

40  90 


•  OO 


Fig.  1.  Map  showing  area  covered  in  first  two  reports. 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


I3y  William  C.  Morse  and  Fred  H.  Kay 
(Field  work  by  William  C.  Morse  and  John  L.  Rich) 


(In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey) 


OUTLINE 


Page 


Introduction  .  10 

Acknowledgments  .  10 

Personnel  of  the  party .  11 

Method  of  field  work .  11 

Key  rocks .  11 

Stratigraphy .  12 

General  statement .  12 

Unconsolidated  rocks .  12 

Alluvium .  12 

Loess  .  13 

Drift  . • .  13 

Consolidated  rocks .  14 

General  description .  14 

Carbondale  formation .  17 

Pottsville  formation .  18 

St.  Louis  limestone .  19 

Salem  formation .  21 

Warsaw  formation .  21 

Keokuk  limestone .  22 

Burlington  limestone .  22 

Kinderhook  and  Upper  Devonian  shale .  23 

Devonian  limestone .  23 

Niagaran  dolomite .  23 

Ordovician  formations .  23 

Position  of  Hoing  sand  in  the  section .  24 

Structure  .  24 

General  statement .  24 

Relation  of  folds  in  oil-bearing  stratum  to  accumulation .  26 

Detailed  structure .  29 

General  statement . • .  29 

Folds  shown  by  coal  No.  2  and  St.  Louis  limestone .  30 

Recommendations  .  31 

Localities  already  tested .  34 


(8) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE  PAGE 

I  Map  of  parts  of  Schuyler,  Brown,  Adams,  and  Hancock  counties .  28 

FIGURE 

1.  Map  showing  area  covered  in  first  two  reports .  7 

2.  Loess  in  the  west  bluff  of  Illinois  River  below  Frederick .  12 

3.  Loess  hills  near  Frederick .  13 

4.  Graphic  sections  (1)  from  measurements  on  outcrops;  (2)  log  of  Hoing 

No.  1  well .  16 

5.  Colchester  (No.  2)  coal  and  overlying  black  shales  west  of  Rushville .  17 

6.  Unconformity  at  base  of  Pottsville,  Harrison  Branch .  18 

7.  St.  Louis  limestone  east  of  Birmingham .  19 

8.  Caves  in  St.  Louis  limestone  filled  by  Pottsville  sands .  20 

9.  Erosion  planes  in  St.  Louis  limestone,  Harrison  Branch .  20 

10.  Keokuk  limestone  near  Plymouth .  22 

11.  Diagram  showing  significance  of  unconformities .  25 

12.  Diagrams  showing  conditions  governing  oil  accumulation . 

A.  In  oil  sands  saturated  with  salt  water  .  27 

B.  In  oil  sands  partly  saturated  .  27 

C.  In  sands  containing  no  salt  water  .  27 


TABLES 

PAGE 

1.  Drill  holes  in  area  south  of  Colmar  field .  35 


(9) 


INTRODUCTION 


Oil  was  discovered  on  the  J.  Hoing  farm  on  April  30,  1914  in  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Colmar  Oil  Field,  an  area  suggested  as  favorable  for 
the  accumluation  of  oil  or  gas  in  a  joint  report  of  the  United  States  Geologi¬ 
cal  Survey  and  the  State  Geological  Survey  by  Henry  Hinds1.  To  date 
more  than  130  producing  wells  have  been  completed  and  the  output  is  now 
approximately  650  barrels  per  day. 

In  the  hope  of  locating  other  areas  in  which  the  geological  structure  is 
favorable  for  the  accumulation  of  oil  or  gas  the  work  during  the  past  season 
has  been  pushed  on  to  the  south.  The  new  territory  now  completed  (see 
figure  1 )  includes  the  whole  of  Schuyler  County  except  the  small  point 
east  of  Sugar  Creek;  the  adjoining  part  of  Brown  included  roughly  within 
lines  running  from  Ripley  to  Mt.  Sterling  and  from  Mt.  Sterling  to  Damon  ; 
and  the  adjacent  belt  on  the  west,  one  to  three  miles  broad,  in  Adams  and 
Hancock  counties. 


Acknowledgments 

An  introduction  to  the  geology  of  this  part  of  the  State  was  given  by 
Dr.  Stuart  Weller,  accompanied  by  Mr.  F.  M.  Van  Tuyl  of  the  Iowa  Survey, 
who  met  Messrs.  Morse  and  Rich  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  visited  the  type  localities 
of  the  Keokuk  and  Warsaw  formations  and  made  with  them  a  three-day 
reconnaissance  automobile  trip  through  McDonough,  Schuyler,  and  Brown 
counties.  Acknowledgment  must  also  be  made  at  the  outset  to  Dr.  John 
L.  Rich,  who  was  a  collaborator  in  the  study  of  nearly  the  whole  of  Schuyler 
County,  and  who  assumed  the  extra  duty  of  directing  the  instrument  men. 
He  would  have  been  joint  author  had  he  not  been  called  east  before  the 
areas  in  Brown,  Adams,  and  Hancock  counties  and  the  Colmar  field  were 
studied.  Free  use  has  been  made  of  the  report  of  Mr.  Henry  Hinds  of  the 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  which  was  published  under  a  co-operative  agree¬ 
ment  by  the  State  Survey.  Mr.  Raymond  S.  Blatchley  located  and  deter¬ 
mined  the  elevations  of  about  15  producing  wells  and  a  similar  number  of 
dry  ones  in  the  Colmar  field.  He  also  secured  a  large  number  of  well 
records  which  the  senior  author  was  unable  to  obtain  because  of  lack  of  time. 

A  friendly  cooperation  was  manifest  on  every  hand,  both  by  the  owners 
of  the  farms  and  the  oil  men.  Free  camp  sites  and  automobile  storage, 
one  or  both,  were  furnished  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Blackburn  of  Brooklyn,  Mr.  Roy 
Moore  of  Rushville,  Mr.  Hare  of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  Mr.  Henry  Pearson 


minds,  Henry,  Oil  and  gas  in  the  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles:  Ill.  State  Geol. 
Survey,  Extract  Bull.  23,  pp.  11-13,  1914. 


(10) 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


11 


and  son  of  Augusta.  Well  records  and  other  information  were  freely  given 
by  Messrs.  Page  and  Crew  of  the  Ohio  Oil  Company,  Mr.  Glass  of  Snowden 
Brothers  and  Company,  Mr.  B.  A.  Kinney  of  the  Lamoine  Oil  and  Gas 
Company,  Mr.  Frank  Lawler,  representing  Messrs.  J.  B.  and  W.  H.  Hazlett, 
Mr.  P.  B.  Lamberton  of  Lamberton  and  Baker,  Mr.  Lewis  of  J.  E.  Urschel 
and  Company,  and  others. 

Personnel  of  the  Party 

The  party,  in  addition  to  Messrs.  Rich  and  Morse,  included  at  various 
times :  David  E.  Day,  John  D.  Mattison,  J.  Philip  Pepper,  H.  S.  Eisu,  Victor 
Wood,  Paul  F.  Morse,  J.  Hazlette  Bell,  Harold  R.  Moore,  James  A.  Lee, 
Jas.  H.  Pierson,  L.  W.  Robison,  Jas.  Barger,  Ray  Post,  Harry  A.  Almond, 
and  J.  W.  Hemphill. 


Method  of  Field  Work 

Since  the  beds  in  the  area  lie  approximately  parallel  to  one  another,  the 
position  and  altitude  of  any  underlying  stratum  such  as  an  oil  sand,  can  be 
learned  by  determining  the  position  of  any  persistent  recognizable  bed  ex¬ 
posed  at  the  surface. 

The  position  of  the  oil  sand  bears  a  direct  relation  to  the  accumulation 
of  petroleum,  as  explained  under  “Relation  of  geologic  structure  to  oil  and 
gas  accumulation;"  and  in  the  region  under  consideration,  instrumental 
levels  were  run  to  outcrops  of  certain  beds  that  could  be  somewhat  easily 
recognized  by  the  geologists.  An  attempt  was  made  to  find  outcrops  not 
more  than  one  mile  distant  from  one  another.  Field  work  began  July  1 
and  continued  to  November  1.  It  was  conducted  from  camp,  and  an  auto¬ 
mobile  was  used  to  great  advantage.  The  levelman  and  two  rodmen  were 
taken  to  their  work  in  the  morning  and  the  car  was  then  available  for  the 
geologists  in  scouting  for  outcrops.  Flags  consisting  of  cheesecloth  18x18 
inches  on  a  lath  staff,  were  placed  upon  the  exposures.  The  location  of  the 
flag  was  usually  determined  by  means  of  a  Brunton  compass  and  by  pacing 
to  the  nearest  land  or  road  corner,  and  its  position  and  number  were  noted 
on  the  map.  A  similar  map  or  a  tracing,  together  with  detailed  information 
concerning  the  flag  locations,  was  furnished  the  levelman  for  his  guidance. 

Key  Rocks 

Coal  No.  2  (Colchester  or  Murphysboro)  was  found  to  be  the  most 
useful  key  rock  because  it  had  been  opened  up  at  many  places  where  all 
consolidated  rocks  were  otherwise  covered  by  glacial  deposits.  Further¬ 
more,  information  about  the  coal  was  more  readily  obtained  than  that  con¬ 
cerning  any  other  bed.  Since  the  St.  Louis  limestone  is  commonly  harder 
than  the  overlying  and  underlying  beds  and  was  rather  easily  discovered,  its 


12 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


base  was  frequently  used  as  a  key  horizon.  In  the  vicinity  of  Rushville  the 
Springfield  (No.  5)  coal,  lying  120  to  130  feet  above  the  coal  Xo.  2,  was 
followed  ;  elsewhere  other  beds  were  used  to  a  limited  extent. 

STRATIGRAPHY 
General  Statement 

The  rocks  of  the  area  under  discussion  belong  to  two  distinct  types : 
namely,  (1)  unconsolidated  and  (2)  consolidated.  The  unconsolidated 
rocks  consist  of  material  deposited  by  the  present  streams  and  called 
alluvium;  that  transported  by  the  wind  and  designated  as  loess;  and  that 
deposited  by  the  continental  ice  sheet  and  known  as  drift.  The  consolidated 
rocks  are  much  older,  were  deposited  earlier,  and  are  such  ordinary  kinds 
as  sandstones,  limestones,  and  shales. 

Unconsolidated  Rocks 
alluvium 

The  alluvium  is  confined  for  the  most  part  to  the  present  valleys, 
where  its  thickness  ranges  from  a  few  feet  to  80  or  more.  It  is  for  the  most 
part  clay  or  sand  or  a  mixture  of  both  of  these,  but  at  some  places  is 
coarser  material.  It  is  the  first  material  penetrated  in  most  of  the  wells 
which  are  located  in  the  valleys. 


LOESS 

Over  the  drift  in  many  places  is  a  covering  of  fine  material  known  as 
loess  which  is  believed  to  have  been  carried  and  deposited  more  or  less 
exclusively  by  the  wind.  As  a  rule  it  is  thicker  along  the  bluffs  overlooking 
the  larger  valleys,  and  thinner  farther  back  from  the  streams.  Because  of 
this  localized  distribution  and  peculiar  composition,  which  in  some  cases,  at 
least,  is  very  similar  to  finely  ground  glacial  material  or  rock  flour,  the  loess 
is  believed  to  have  been  swept  out  from  the  glaciers  by  streams,  spread  out 
over  the  flood  plains,  and  then  after  the  floods  subsided  and  the  material 
became  thoroughly  dry,  picked  up  and  deposited  over  the  neighboring 
uplands  by  the  wind.  In  texture  it  is  intermediate  between  clay  and  sand. 
Although  unconsolidated,  when  undercut  it  is  capable  of  standing  in  vertical 
or  slightly  overhanging  clififs  (see  figure  2).  Another  characteristic  is  its 
division  by  joint  planes  into  vertical  columns.  The  thickness  of  the  loess, 
like  that  of  the  drift,  varies  from  place  to  place ;  but  in  the  area  under 
discussion  it  is  especially  thick  along  the  western  bluffs  of  Illinois  River 
(see  figure  3). 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


13 


Fig.  2.  Loess  in  the  west  bluff  of  Illinois  River  below  Frederick. 


Fig.  3.  Loess  hills  above  the  outwash  plain,  looking  toward  Illinois  River  near 
Frederick. 


DRIFT 

The  drift  belongs  to  one  of  the  earlier  periods  of  glaciation,  the  Illinoian. 
Nearly  everywhere  in  this  area  it  conceals  the  bed  rock  and  adds  much  to 
the  labor  of  the  geologist  in  determining  the  position  of  the  bedded  rocks. 
The  drift  contains  fragments  of  many  kinds  of  rock  (limestone,  sandstone, 
granite,  gneiss,  schist,  and  others)  over  which  the  glacier  or  ice  sheet 
passed. 


14 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


In  places  the  constituents  are  assorted  into  clay,  sand,  gravel,  and 
bowlders ;  and  in  others  they  may  be  mixed  together  in  a  heterogeneous 
mass.  In  this  area  the  drift  is  for  the  most  part  fine  material  containing 
few  large  bowlders.  At  most  places  outside  of  the  valleys  the  drift  is  the 
first  material  penetrated  by  the  drill  and  in  places  the  presence  of  bowlders 
in  the  soft  material  deflects  the  drill  so  as  to  produce  a  crooked  hole  which 
has  to  be  abandoned. 


Consolidated  Rocks 

GENERAL  DESCRIPTION 

The  consolidated  rocks  of  interest  to  the  oil  operator  in  this  region 
include  the  formations  from  the  lower  part  of  the  “Coal  Measures”  down 
to  the  St.  Peter  sandstone  which  underlies  the  Trenton  limestone. 

At  different  places  in  the  area  all  of  the  formations  down  to,  and  includ¬ 
ing,  the  Keokuk  limestone  are  exposed  and  may  be  studied  in  detail.  Below 
the  Keokuk  the  beds  are  known  from  samples  obtained  by  drilling. 

The  inserted  generalized  section  serves  as  a  key  to  identify  the  forma¬ 
tions  on  the  outcrop  or  in  drillers’  records. 

The  following  is  a  composite  section  from  measurements  of  various 
outcrops  in  the  region. 

Composite  section  of  exposed  rocks 

Pennsylvanian  series 

Carbondale  formation 

Ft.  In. 


A.  Limestone,  nodular,  bluish  black .  6 

B.  Shale,  hard,  black,  carbonaceous,  slate-like,  with  nodules 

or  concretions  of  hard,  dark  limestone.  Large  Lingulae 

and  Orbiculoidece .  2  6 

C.  Coal,  Springfield  (No.  5),  broken  by  clay  seams  and 

slightly  faulted.  Mined.  The  Mt.  Sterling  18-inch  bed 
is  probably  the  same .  5 

D.  Commonly  covered,  the  exposed  portions  consisting  of 

shales  and  underclay .  7 

E.  Limestone,  nodular  or  brecciated.  Exposed  at  Mt.  Sterling, 

but  not  noted  so  fully  developed  at  other  places .  3 


F.  The  first  interval  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet  beneath  the 
Springfield  (No.  5)  coal  is  commonly  covered.  Sandy 
shales  and  shaly  sandstones,  the  layers  of  which  in  places 
thicken  up  and  form  more  massive  sandstones.  In  places 
cementation  has  been  more  pronounced,  resulting  in 
harder  and  more  resistant  layers.  In  still  other  places 
more  thorough  cementation  has  developed  large  flat  con¬ 
cretions,  which  are  more  conspicuous  where  weathering 
has  removed  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  layers.  Massive 
sandstone  in  places,  shales  in  others.  The  uneven  erosion 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


15 


Ft.  In. 


surface  at  the  base  probably  represents  an  unconformity. 
More  or  less  of  the  whole  interval  of  100  feet  from  the 
Springfield  (No.  5)  coal  to  the  limestone  below  is  subject 

to  variation  in  constitution .  90 

G.  Limestone,  dark  gray.  Ranges  from  6  inches  to  7  feet  in 
thickness  and  is  nodular  in  places.  Contains  Chonetes 
mesolobus,  Productus,  Crinoids,  and  other  fossils .  4 


H.  Shale,  hard,  black,  carbonaceous,  and  slate-like,  which  may 

be  somewhat  softer  at  the  base.  It  contains  flat  and 
spherical  concretions  of  dark  limestone ;  Orbiculoidece  and 
Lingulcz  are  common .  4 

I.  Shales,  soft  blue  clay ;  at  some  places  16  or  18  feet  thick 

and  at  others  only  2  or  3  feet,  or  wanting.  This  irregu¬ 
larity  in  thickness  is  due  to  irregular  deposition.  The  bed 
of  black  shales  above  is  wavy  as  a  result  of  this  variation  12 

J.  Coal,  Colchester  (No.  2),  mined.  This  coal  with  the 

overlying  black  shale  and  limestone  is  the  most  constant 


horizon  in  the  Pennsylvanian  in  this  part  of  the  State. ...  2  6 

Pottsville  formation 

K.  Underclay  and  shaly  clay .  2  6 

L.  Shales,  soft  clay,  1  to  10  feet  in  thickness .  6 

M.  Limestone,  nodular,  conglomeratic,  or  brecciated .  3 


N.  Clay  or  shale  or  shaly  clay  which  becomes  more  sandy 


toward  the  bottom  and  passes  into  sandstones.  This  is 
the  Cheltenham  clay  horizon,  the  clay  being  especially 
well  developed  and  valuable  at  some  places .  14 

O.  Coal  which  ranges  from  6  inches  to  18  inches  in  thickness 

and  which  may  consist  of  two  beds.  It  is  commonly 
called  No.  1 .  1 

P.  Shales,  blue,  clayey,  and  sandy,  grading  into  sandstones. ...  15 

Q.  Sandstone,  irregular  with  some  sandy  shale .  5 


Marked  unconformity 

Mississippian  series 

St.  Louis  limestone 

R.  Limestone,  hard,  bluish  gray.  Portions  of  the  limestone 
are  in  regular  layers,  and  other  portions  are  decidedly 
irregular.  In  places  the  limestone  is  brecciated,  the 
angular  pieces  being  almost  exclusively  limestone,  and  in 
others  the  limestone  is  decidedly  sandy.  In  the  lower 
part  of  the  formation  lenses  of  sandstone  are  present 
which  seem  to  be  formed  of  sand  which  was  washed  into 
cavities  .  20 

Salem  and  Warsaw  formations 

Thin-  to  thick-bedded  sandy  limestone  or  dolomite.  Resembles 
very  fine-grained,  limy  sandstone.  Generally  has  yellow 
to  brownish-yellow  tint.  Toward  base  is  compact,  bluish 
limestone.  Dull  sound  when  struck  with  hammer ;  this 
characteristic  is  helpful  in  distinguishing  Salem  from  St. 
Louis  which  rings  when  struck .  18 


16 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Feet 


72 


73 


120 


25 


92 


23 

Oil 

sand 


Fig.  4.  Graphic  sections  : 

j.  From  measurements  on  outcrops  (see  “Composite  section,  page  14). 
2.  Log  of  Hoing  No.  1  well. 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


17 


Ft.  In. 

Limestone,  shaly,  and  blue,  shales,  some  of  which  are  filled  with 
fragments  of  bryozoans  and  small  shells.  Small  geodes 

are  present  in  places .  24 

Base  not  exposed.  Underlying  Keokuk  limestone  exposed  in 
region  but  no  continuous  section  from  Salem  downward 
could  be  found. 

Figure  4,  section  i  is  a  graphic  representation  of  the  section  given 
above,  including  the  beds  to  the  base  of  the  St.  Louis  limestone.  By  taking 
No.  i  in  connection  with  the  graphic  log  of  the  Hoing  well  on  the  left, 
(No.  2),  the  reader  may  gain  a  definite  idea  of  the  beds  to  be  penetrated  in 
drilling  to  the  oil  “sand”. 

CARBONDALE  FORMATION 

The  Carbondale  formation  includes  all  of  the  beds  from  the  top  of 
coal  No.  6  down  to  the  base  of  coal  No.  2.  The  former  coal  is  not  present 
in  the  area  under  consideration. 

Exposures  at  few  places  show  beds  higher  than  a  few  feet  above  coal 
No.  5,  which  lies  50  to  100  feet  below  coal  No.  6  in  other  parts  of  the  State. 


Fig.  5.  Colchester  (No.  2)  coal  and  overlying  black,  concretionary  shales 
west  of  Rushville. 


In  the  vicinity  of  the  Colmar  oil  field  most  of  the  coal-bearing  rocks 
were  eroded  before  glacial  times,  and  in  many  places  the  first  rocks  under 
the  drift  are  Mississippian  limestones.  Toward  the  south  and  east,  the 

2— B— 31 


18 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Carbondale  is  present  in  greater  thickness.  Near  Pleasant  View  130  feet 
of  this  formation  was  measured. 

The  Carbondale  consists  largely  of  shales  and  sandstones,  but  it  also 
contains  thin  beds  of  limestone,  underclay,  and  coal.  Coal  No.  2 
(Colchester)  is  one  of  the  most  persistent  beds  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series 
in  Illinois.  In  spite  of  its  thickness  of  only  24  to  30  inches,  it  has  been 
opened  up  at  many  places  along  the  outcrop.  Directly  above  coal  No.  2  or 
separated  from  it  by  a  few  feet  of  soft,  clay  shales,  is  a  bed  of  hard,  black, 
carbonaceous,  slate-like  shale  similar  in  appearance  to  that  above  the 
Springfield  (No.  5)  coal  (see  figure  5).  It  contains  nodules  of  hard,  dark 
limestone  and  fossil  Orbiculoidea  and  Lingula  which  are  smaller  than  those 
in  the  shales  associated  with  coal  No.  5.  Above  the  black  shales  is  a 
stratum  of  fossiliferous  limestone,  here  and  there  chert-like.  In  this  phase 
the  fossils  appear  white  against  the  dark  background. 

Coal  No.  5,  which  is  confined  to  a  small  area  north  of  Rushville  and 
Pleasant  Mew  is  commonly  5  to  6  feet  thick  and  contains  clay  seams  that 
cut  across  the  bedding  planes  of  the  coal.  The  beds  above  coal  No.  5  are 
very  similar  to  those  above  coal  No.  2.  The  roof  is  a  hard,  black  shale 
overlain  by  a  nodular  limestone  containing  fossils.  In  the  shale  are  nodules 
and  fossil  shells  of  Orbiculoidea  and  Lingula  which  are  larger  than  those 
in  the  shale  above  coal  No.  2.  Below  the  floor  clay  of  coal  No.  5  is  a 
nodular  limestone  not  unlike  that  beneath  the  Colchester  coal. 

POTTSVILLE  FORMATION 

The  Pottsville  formation  includes  all  beds  from  the  base  of  coal  No.  2 
to  the  base  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series.  Like  the  Carbondale  formation 
it  too  is  made  up  for  the  most  part  in  this  region  of  shales  and  sandstones, 
but  contains  minor  amounts  of  limestone,  underclay,  and  coal.  A  few  feet 


Fig.  6.  Unconformity  at  base  of  Pottsville,  Harrison  Branch,  north  of  Huntsville. 

The  diagram  above  point  marked  “X”  represents  hillside  outcrops,  that  below  “X"  repre¬ 
sents  longitudinal  section  of  stream  bed. 


beneath  coal  No.  2  is  a  bed  of  limestone  which  is  either  nodular  or  brecciated 
and  is  not  unlike  the  St.  Louis,  but  can  be  readily  distinguished  from  it 
where  fossils  are  present.  A  thin  coal  is  found  beneath  coal  No.  2  at  many 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


19 


places,  but  owing  probably  to  its  lenticular  nature  no  single  bed  persists 
over  a  large  area. 

The  “Coal  Measures”  rocks  were  deposited  on  a  former  land  surface 
with  hills  and  valleys ;  consequently  the  thickness  is  extremely  variable.  The 
Pottsville  formation  lies  at  some  places  on  the  St.  Louis  limestone,  at 
others  on  the  Salem  formation,  and  elsewhere  on  still  older  formations. 
Such  a  relationship  is  called  an  unconformity  since  the  normal  sequence 
of  deposition  has  been  interrupted  by  a  period  of  erosion.  Figure  6  is  a 
sketch  showing  the  unconformity  at  the  base  of  the  Pottsville  in  Harrison 
Branch,  north  of  Huntsville. 

ST.  LOUIS  LIMESTONE 

In  most  places  the  St.  Louis  is  a  brecciated,  poorly  bedded  limestone. 
Well-defined  layers  are  exceptional.  Most  of  the  angular  fragments  are 
limestone  and  vary  in  size  from  grains  to  blocks  2  feet  or  more  in  diameter 
(see  figure  7).  The  color  is  blue  at  most  places,  although  here  and  there  a 


Fig  7.  Brecciated  and  conglomeratic  St.  Louis  limestone  east  of  Birmingham. 


yellowish  tint  is  noticeable.  The  limestone  is  barren  of  fossils,  except  large 
hemispheres  of  the  coral  Lithostrotion  canadense,  which  are  harder  than 
the  surrounding  stone  and  must  have  collected  as  residual  material  on  the 
old  St.  Louis  surface  as  the  limestone  weathered  away,  since  most  of  them 
are  now  in  the  base  of  the  Pottsville  sandstone. 

When  the  St.  Louis  was  land  surface,  caverns  were  formed  in  the 
limestone  as  the  result  of  solution  by  acid  waters,  just  as  caves  now  form 


20 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


in  limestones.  Later  the  Pottsville  was  deposited  on  the  St.  Louis,  and 
some  of  the  sand  settled  down  into  the  old  caves  as  shown  in  figure  8. 

The  St.  Louis  commonly  has  a  thickness  of  18  to  20  feet  but  in  places 


Fig.  8.  Caves  in  St.  Louis  limestone  filled  by  Pottsville  sands.  (Photo  by  Rich) 


Fig.  9.  Erosion  planes  in  the  St.  Louis  limestone  in  Harrison  Branch  north  of 
Huntsville. 


it  reaches  more  than  30  feet.  In  many  parts  of  the  regi  n  it  has  been 
completely  removed  by  pre-Pottsville  erosion. 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


21 


The  surface  on  which  the  St.  Louis  was  deposited  was  not  rough  ;  the 
greatest  departure  from  a  level  noted  is  8 J4  feet  in  a  horizontal  distance  of 
100  feet  in  Williams  Creek  about  3  miles  northwest  of  Huntsville.  Besides 
the  unconformities  at  the  top  and  bottom,  the  St.  Louis  contains  erosion 
planes  as  shown  in  figure  9. 


SALEM  FORMATION 


Below  the  St.  Louis,  and  in  unconformable  contact  with  it,  is  a 
variable  thickness  of  yellowish,  magnesian  limestones,  limy  shales,  and 
limy  sandstones  correlated  with  the  Salem  formation.  In  many  places 
difficulty  is  experienced  in  correctly  classifying  the  material  as  limy  sand¬ 
stone  or  as  impure  limestone.  Geodes  are  abundant ,  but  fossils  are  scarce. 
When  struck  with  a  hammer  the  Salem  gives  a  dull  sound,  in  decided 
contrast  to  the  ringing  sound  of  the  St.  Louis  limestone. 

Thirty  feet  or  more  of  the  Salem  was  measured  in  the  region,  but 
because  of  the  unconformities  at  top  and  bottom,  and  also  because  of  the 
similarity  between  the  basal  beds  of  the  Salem  and  the  top  strata  of  the 
Warsaw,  the  thickness  of  the  former  is  uncertain. 

The  following  section  is  typical  of  the  Salem  in  this  region. 


5. 


4. 

3. 

2. 

1. 


Measured  section  of  Salem  formation  along  stream  and  road  between 

secs.  5  and  6,  T.  2  N.,  R.  3  W. 

Ft. 


Limy  shales,  impure,  yellowish,  and  bluish,  and  impure  yellowish 
limestones  with  chert  and  quartz  geodes  at  a  number  of  horizons. 


The  layers  are  more  massive  at  the  base .  20 

Not  exposed,  probably  shale .  12 

Shales,  blue .  4 

Limestone,  impure  and  yellowish,  with  bryozoa  and  Productus .  4 

Clay  shale,  blue;  and  sandstone .  3 


In. 


6 

6 


WARSAW  FORMATION 

The  Warsaw  formation  in  this  region  is  composed  of  30  to  40  feet  of 
interbedded  blue  clay  shales,  and  thin,  impure  limestones.  The  shales 
contain  abundant  bryozoans,  and  in  the  limestones  a  large  spiral  fossil  of 
this  class  known  as  Archimedes  is  very  characteristic. 

The  following  sections  show  the  variable  nature  of  the  Warsaw  in  this 
region.  They  probably  include  some  of  the  overlying  Salem  since  it  is 
impossible  to  determine  the  contact  between  the  two. 

Section  of  part  of  Warsaw  formation  in  the  south  central  part  of 

sec.  14,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W. 

(Section  may  contain  few  feet  of  Salem  formation) 

Ft.  In. 

3.  Clay  shales,  hard,  blue ;  and  sandstones  with  very  little  lime,  yellow, 

and  like  Salem  at  base .  8 


22 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Ft.  In. 

2.  Limestone,  crystalline,  massive,  grading  up  into  sandy  limestone,  yel¬ 


low  ;  large  Archimedes .  10 

1.  Clay  shales,  soft,  blue,  and  fossiliferous .  2  6 


Section  of  part  of  Warsaw  formation  in  the  NE.  cor.  sec.  26,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W . 

Ft.  In. 

2.  Limestone,  thick,  reddish  brown,  crystalline,  with  sandstones  between. 

The  upper  limestone  contains  a  large  roseate  brachiopod  and  the 


lower  one  contains  Archimedes,  corals,  and  brachiopods .  12 

1.  Clay  shales,  soft,  blue,  filled  with  bryozoans,  brachiopods,  pelecypods, 

and  Archimedes  .  5 


KEOKUK  LIMESTONE 

The  Keokuk  limestone  is  the  lowest  formation  exposed  in  the  region. 
It  consists  of  30  feet  or  more  of  gray,  crystalline,  very  fossiliferous  lime¬ 
stone,  which  grades  upward  into  the  Warsaw  shales.  The  main  body  of 
the  Keokuk  is  evenly  bedded  as  shown  in  figure  10. 


Fig.  10.  Keokuk  limestone  near  Plymouth.  (Photo  by  Rich) 


BURLINGTON  LIMESTONE 

The  Burlington  limestone  does  not  outcrop  in  the  region,  but  it  is 
believed  to  be  represented  by  certain  cherty  limestones  penetrated  by  the 
drill  while  passing  through  the  base  of  the  Mississippian  or  so-called  “first 
lime”.  In  the  Littleton  well,  recently  drilled,  the  lower  part  of  the  lime¬ 
stone  from  270  to  445  probably  represents  the  Burlington. 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


23 


KINDERIIOOK  AND  UPPER  DEVONIAN  SHALE 

The  “first”  and  “second”  limes  are  separated  by  about  200  feet  of  shale. 
The  upper  100  feet,  usually  a  bluish-gray,  sandy  shale,  represents  the 
Kinderhook.  Samples  from  the  Littleton  well  show  100  feet  of  Kinderhook 
shale  underlain  by  100  feet  of  dark  gray  to  olive  shale  containing  Sporangites 
which  prove  it  to  be  of  Upper  Devonian  age.  The  lower  part  contains 
shales  of  somewhat  lighter  color. 

DEVONIAN  LIMESTONES 

A  thin,  non-magnesian  limestone  usually  reported  as  gray,  and  in  some 
places  said  to  contain  pyrite,  underlies  the  shale  mentioned  above.  In  most 
of  the  wells  thus  far  drilled  this  limestone  is  not  more  than  15  feet  thick, 
although  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  from  the  underlying  limestone.  It 
forms  the  upper  part  of  the  drillers’  “second  lime.” 

NIAGARAN  FORMATION 

Below  the  limestone  described  above  is  a  gray  to  pink  crystalline  dolo¬ 
mite  which  probably  represents  the  Niagaran.  Where  it  is  present,  it  forms 
the  lower  part  of  the  “second  lime”  and  would  probably  not  be  distinguished 
from  the  Hamilton  limestone  above. 

Since  the  Niagaran  was  deposited  on  an  eroded  surface  of  Maquoketa 
shale  and  was  itself  exposed  to  erosion  before  the  overlying  Hamilton  was 
deposited  upon  it,  the  thickness  of  the  Niagaran  is  extremely  irregular. 
In  some  places  it  was  completely  eroded.  The  combined  thickness  of  the 
Hamilton  and  Niagaran  is  rarely  more  than  50  feet. 

In  the  western  part  of  Illinois,  the  Niagaran  is  closely  associated  with 
oil  production.  It  contains  the  gas  in  Pike  County,  where  the  dolomite  is 
also  oil  soaked  in  places.  On  the  outcrop  in  Calhoun  County  near  Batch- 
town,  the  Niagaran  is  a  fine-grained,  bufif-colored  dolomite  that  falls  to 
powder  under  the  hammer,  and  is  so  porous  that  it  could  easily  act  as  a 
reservoir  for  oil  and  gas.  The  “broken”  sand  so  often  reported  at  the 
base  of  the  “second  lime”  is  probably  the  porous  basal  part  of  the  Niagaran. 
The  oil  sand  probably  represents  reworked  material  at  the  base  of  the 
Niagaran  and  is  properly  classed  as  part  of  that  formation. 

ORDOVICIAN  FORMATIONS 

Below  the  Niagaran  the  drill  penetrates  a  variable  thickness  of  shale, 
generally  bluish  or  greenish  and  usually  easily  distinguished.  In  the 
Griggsby  well  in  the  W.  y2  SE.  %  sec.  20,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W.  the  Maquoketa 
or  Richmond  shale  as  it  is  called,  is  187  feet  thick  and  in  other  wells  that 
penetrate  the  formation,  it  generally  ranges  from  180  to  200  feet.  Recent 


24 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


drilling  seems  to  indicate  that  6  or  8  miles  north  of  the  Colmar  field,  the 
Maquoketa  may  be  much  thinner  than  indicated  above ;  probably  on  account 
of  erosion  before  the  Hamilton  was  deposited.  In  the  latter  area  the 
Maquoketa  also  contains  shaly  textured  dolomites  in  contrast  to  the  typical 
shales  further  south. 

Below  the  Maquoketa  is  the  Kimmswick-Plattin  (Trenton)  limestone 
which  in  the  region  covered  by  this  report  is  non-magnesian,  gray,  and 
somewhat  crystalline.  Thus  far  it  has  not  been  found  to  contain  oil  in  the 
western  part  of  Illinois.  South  of  this  region,  in  Calhoun  County,  the 
Trenton  outcrops  and  is  seen  to  be  composed  largely  of  shells.  When  struck 
with  the  hammer,  the  odor  of  oil  is  very  prominent. 

About  \y2  miles  north  of  Beechville,  Calhoun  County,  the  Trenton 
contains  a  conspicuous  amount  of  bituminous  matter.  The  rock  must  have 
been  highly  organic  originally,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  some  oil  originated 
in  this  formation.  Drillers  in  Illinois  often  report  the  odor  of  petroleum 
from  the  Trenton.  It  was  penetrated  200  feet  in  Griggsby  No.  1  and  it  may 
be  300  to  400  feet  thick.  Because  of  its  compact  nature,  it  does  not  tend 
to  be  as  favorable  for  accumulation  as  does  the  more  porous  ATiagaran,  but 
it  should  be  tested  in  wells  where  the  structure  is  favorable  in  order  to 
explore  all  possible  oil  horizons. 

Position  of  the  Hoing  Oil  Sand  in  the  Section 

The  producing  stratum  lies  beneath  the  “second  lime”  and  at  the  base 
of  the  Niagaran  formation.  Samples  from  producing  wells  show  that  it  is  a 
round-grained  quartzitic  sand  of  variable  thickness. 

The  sand  exists  in  lenses  and  appears  to  be  material  that  was  washed 
into  the  valleys  and  low  areas  when  the  Maquoketa  shale  was  land  surface 
and  exposed  to  erosion.  It  was  reworked,  of  course,  by  the  Niagaran  sea. 
Its  areal  distribution  is  spotty  and  in  many  places  the  drill  passes  from  the 
“second  lime”  directly  into  the  Maquoketa  shales,  with  no  intervening  sands. 

It  is  possible  that  the  lower  part  of  the  Niagaran  dolomite  is  in  some 
places  responsible  for  a  show  of  oil  but  it  is  believed  that  important  accumu¬ 
lation  is  dependent  on  the  presence  of  the  more  porous  sand.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  presence  of  the  latter  cannot  be  predicted  in  advance  of  the  drill. 

STRUCTURE 
General  Statement 

The  significance  of  the  unconformities  described  under  “Stratigraphy” 
is  shown  graphically  in  figure  11,  the  unconformities  being  represented  by 
the  irregular  contact  lines  between  different  formations.  Such  contact 
planes  are  simply  ancient  land  surfaces,  some  of  which  had  almost  as 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


25 


much  relief  as  the  surface  today;  whereas  others  exhibit  a  relief  of  only 
a  few  feet. 

In  selecting  a  key  rock  the  elevation  of  which  is  to  be  determined 
throughout  a  region,  in  order  to  learn  the  position  of  underlying  oil  sands,  it 
is  necessary  to  know  that  the  bed  is  approximately  parallel  to  the  deeper 
beds  or  that  the  departure  from  parallelism  is  regular  and  determinable. 
An  unconformable  contact  between  two  formations  is  worthless  for  this 
purpose  in  Illinois  if  the  irregularities  in  the  old  surface  as  shown  by  the 
plane  of  contact  exceed  15  feet.  For  example,  the  contact  between  the 
“Coal  Measures”  and  the  Mississippian  limestones  or  “first  lime.”  as  shown 
in  figure  11,  would  be  valueless  in  determining  the  position  of  the  Hoing 


Fig.  11.  Diagram  showing  significance  of  unconformities  in  the  Colmar  region. 


sand,  since  levels  on  this  contact  would  merely  determine  the  height  of  the 
hills  on  the  old  land  surface  rather  than  any  folding  which  the  beds  had 
undergone.  On  the  other  hand,  the  base  of  the  St.  Louis  limestone,  although 


26 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


in  unconformable  contact  with  lower  formations,  serves  as  a  safe  horizon 
because  the  irregularities  in  the  plane  of  contact  are  slight. 

So  far  as  is  known,  regardless  of  the  many  oscillations  of  the  region 
above  and  below  sea  level  and  despite  the  long  periods  of  time  represented 
by  the  formations  and  their  unconformities,  there  was  practically  no  warping 
or  folding  of  the  beds  from  the  time  the  Hoing  sand  was  deposited  until 
after  the  “Coal  Measures’’  were  laid  down.  Such  folding  as  then  took 
place  affected  all  the  beds  alike.  Were  it  not  for  this  fact,  geological  work 
on  beds  at  the  surface  would  be  almost  useless  in  determining  underlying 
structures.  During  the  submergence  which  followed  the  exposure  of  the 
St.  Louis  limestone  as  a  land  surface,  it  is  possible  that  the  sinking  was 
slightly  greater  toward  the  northwest  since  we  now  find  in  that  direction 
an  increasing  interval  between  the  base  of  the  St.  Louis  and  coal  Xo.  2  lying 
above.  The  interval  varies  from  about  45  feet  in  southeast  Schuyler 
County  to  about  75  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  Colchester. 

Relation  of  Folds  in  an  Oil-bearing  Stratum  to  Accumulation 

In  most  of  the  oil  fields  of  the  State,  the  accumulation  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  upward  folds  in  the  strata.  It  is  the  usual  experience  to 
find  the  oil  near  the  crests  of  the  anticlines  or  where  terraces  exist  on  the 
sides  of  the  anticlines.  Both  types  are  illustrated  in  the  main  oil  fields  of 
Lawrence  and  Crawford  counties. 

The  fact  that  every  known  field  in  Illinois  is  surrounded  by  wells 
which  tap  only  salt  water,  is  strong  evidence  that  the  latter  is  a  most 
important  factor  in  determining  where  the  «oil  will  accumulate  in  a  sand 
that  has  been  folded  in  undulations.  If  the  sand  is  practically  saturated 
with  salt  water,  the  result  is  generally  a  forcing  of  the  oil  int}  the  crest 
of  the  fold  as  shown  in  figure  12,  A.  In  case  of  partial  saturation,  the  oil 
is  found  farther  down  the  sides  of  the  folds  and  the  crest  may  be  dry  or 
it  may  contain  some  gas  (fig.  12,  B).  If  the  sand  is  dry,  the  oil  is  per¬ 
mitted  to  collect  in  the  basins  or  synclines,  and  the  anticlines  prove  unpro¬ 
ductive  (fig.  12,  C). 

The  productive  part  of  the  sands  in  the  southeastern  Illinois  fields  is 
near  the  crest  of  the  well-defined  La  Salle  anticline  or  on  terraces  which 
are  part  of  this  same  fold.  On  the  sides  of  the  anticline,  salt  water  fills 
the  producing  sands  almost  to  the  crest. 

In  the  western  part  of  Illinois,  however,  many  of  the  conditions  are 
different  from  those  in  the  fields  just  mentioned,  and  it  would  not  be  sur¬ 
prising  if  oil  is  found  in  positions  entirely  different  from  those  better  known 
heretofore. 

In  attempting  to  locate  possible  undiscovered  fields  in  western  Illinois 
the  following  facts  must  be  given  due  consideration : 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


27 


1.  The  structural  features — that  is,  folds — are  small  in  area  and  in 
magnitude.  The  crests  of  many  of  the  domes  and  anticlines  are  not  more 
than  20  or  30  feet  high. 


3rd. drill  hole 


Fig.  12.  Diagram  showing  conditions  governing  oil  accumulations : 

A.  In  oil  sands  saturated  with  salt  water. 

B.  In  oil  sands  partly  saturated. 

C.  In  sand  containing  no  salt  water. 


28 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


2.  The  oil-bearing  horizon  is  extremely  variable  in  thickness  and  in 
character. 

3.  Drilling  already  done  shows  that  oil  and  salt  water  exist  in  separated 
areas  and  at  so  widely  different  elevations  that  no  lateral  connection  be¬ 
tween  the  deposits  of  one  area  with  another  is  conceivable. 

1.  In  the  eastern  part  of  Illinois  the  beds  at  the  crest  of  the  La  Salle  anti¬ 
cline  lie  500  feet  higher  than  in  the  basins  bordering  the  fold.  The  anti¬ 
cline  is  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  be  easily  identified  and  traced,  and 
its  influence  on  petroleum  accumulation  is  clearly  defined.  In  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  however,  the  beds  dip  gently  eastward,  and 
the  folds  that  have  developed  are  merely  small  irregularities  in,  or 
interruptions  to,  the  general  dip.  The  altitude  of  the  sand  has  been 
determined  from  outcrops  of  beds  at  the  surface,  the  parallelism  of 
the  strata  being  assumed.  In  the  Colmar  field,  the  sand  is  parallel  to 
the  beds  lying  above  and  shows  the  same  folding  as  the  coal.  How¬ 
ever,  the  drilling  of  domes  and  anticlines  where  the  crests  rise  only 
20  or  30  feet,  is  recommended  with  considerable  hesitancy. 

2.  The  sand  that  contains  the  oil  was  probably  deposited  only  in  the  valleys 
and  basins  in  the  Maquoketa  shale.  Consequently  the  bed  is  not  con¬ 
tinuous,  but  exists  as  lenses  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  entirely 
separated  from  one  another.  This  assumption  is  confirmed  by  the 
records  from  some  of  the  wells  in  which  little  or  no  sand  was  found  at 
the  Hoing  sand  horizon. 

3.  The  location  of  the  salt  water  in  the  territory  thus  far  studied  presents 
a  serious  problem.  In  the  Colmar  field  the  sak  water  is  found  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  sand  on  the  terrace  and  also  lower  down  the  dip.  At 
the  east  end  of  the  crest  of  the  elongate  dome,  the  Collins  and  Griggsby 
wells  showed  a  small  amount  of  oil  and  no  salt  water ;  whereas  at  the 
west  end  of  the  dome  the  Roberts  No.  1  well,  which  taps  the  sand  at 
the  same  elevation  as  the  wells  named  above,  produces  oil  in  commercial 
quantities  and  is  surrounded  by  wells  lower  down  the  dome  which 
produce  only  salt  water,  existing  high  in  the  dome,  almost  50  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  oil  in  the  Colmar  field  only  three  miles  distant. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Birmingham,  and  between  this  place  and  Augusta,  a 
number  of  wells  have  been  drilled,  and  although  the  Hoing  sand  was 
found  in  most  of  them  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  highest  of 
these  wells  structurally,  taps  the  sand  at  least  60  feet  below  the  salt 
water  near  the  Roberts  No.  1  well,  careful  investigation  discloses  the 
absence  of  salt  water  in  the  lower  wells.  In  fact,  below  about  100 
feet  where  fresh  water  required  casing,  it  was  necessary  to  add  water 
to  most  of  these  wells  for  drilling  purposes. 

It  is  clear  then  that  regardless  of  position  above  sea  level,  certain 
areas  may  be  saturated  with  salt  water  and  possibly  with  accompany- 


SURVEYED  IN  COOPERATION  WITH 


U.  S.  GEO  -OGICAL  SURVEY 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

GOVERNOR  E  F.  DUNNE.  T.  C.  CHAMBERLIN,  E.  J.  JAMES.  COMMISSIONERS 
FRANK  W.  DE  WOLF,  DIRECTOR 


BULLETIN  NO.  31.  PLATE  I 


I  Beardatown 


R.  1  W. 


MAP  OF  PARTS  OF  SCHUYLER,  BROWN.  ADAMS  AND  HANCOCK  COUNTIES 

SHOWING  POSITION  OF  UNDERLYING  BEDS  BY  MEANS  OF  CONTOURS  ON  COAL  NO.  2 

By  William  C.  Morse  and  John  L.  Rich.  1915. 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


29 


ing  trapped  oil,  whereas  between  these  areas  there  may  be  no  oil  nor 
salt  water. 

The  explanation  of  the  features  mentioned  is  probably  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  the  sand  now  exists  in  separated  lenses  surrounded 
at  the  sides  as  well  as  at  the  top  and  bottom  by  impervious  beds,  and 
accumulation  is  free  to  progress  in  each  lens  independently  as  outlined 
under  the  topic  “Conditions  governing  accumulation  in  the  Colmar 
field,”  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

Under  these  conditions  the  degree  of  saturation  by  oil  and  salt 
water  will  govern  whether  accumulation  will  take  place  at  the  top  of  the 
folds,  in  terraces  lower  down,  or  in  the  synclines. 

Taking  all  features  into  consideration,  the  Survey  recommends  that 
the  first  test  holes  be  located  near  the  crests  of  the  domes  and  anticlines 
pointed  out  under  the  topic  “Recommendations.”  In  doing  so  the  operator 
will  be  prospecting  the  areas  that  are  normally  the  most  favorable.  If  the 
crests  are  found  to  be  barren  of  oil  and  to  contain  no  salt  water,  other 
wells  should  be  drilled  in  positions  to  test  the  sand  at  lower  elevations, 
preferably  terraces  as  shown  on  the  structure  map.  In  locating  wells  on 
a  flat  portion  of  the  sand  (terrace)  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  accumu¬ 
lation  is  likely  to  be  at  the  downward-dipping  edge  of  the  terrace  as  shown 
in  figure  12,  B.  Should  the  terraces  prove  barren  of  oil  and  salt  water,  it 
is  recommended  that  at  least  a  few  of  the  synclines  be  drilled,  the  suppo¬ 
sition  being  that  in  the  absence  of  salt  water  in  the  higher  structures  the 
oil  would  be  in  the  troughs. 

Detailed  Structure 

GENERAL  STATEMENT 

Elevations  upon  either  or  both  coal  No.  2  and  the  basal  contact  of  the 
St.  Louis  limestone  were  secured  wherever  possible  at  intervals  of  one 
mile  or  less.  These  elevations  were  recorded  upon  a  study  map  which 
revealed  the  following  general  structure  of  the  two  beds. 

In  general  coal  No.  2  dips  to  the  south  of  east — from  the  highest  ele¬ 
vation  of  630  feet,  in  secs.  25  and  26,  T.  3  N.,  R.  5  W.  (Augusta),  Han¬ 
cock  County,  to  the  lowest  elevation  of  about  500  feet  along  Illinois  River 
in  the  vicinity  of  Browning  and  Frederick,  Schuyler  County.  Upon  this 
larger  structure  in  places  there  are  some  minor  features  which  take  the 
forms  of  small  domes,  anticlines,  terraces,  and  synclines.  The  general  dip, 
however,  persists  over  large  areas,  and  the  coal  bed  lies  nearly  flat  in  a 
belt  4  to  6  miles  wide  stretching  from  Littleton  to  a  point  beyond  Mabel 
(see  Plate  I)  and  probably  in  a  similar  belt  stretching  southeast  from  Little- 
toti  through  Rushville  to  Pleasant  View,  although  elevations  in  this  latter 
belt  are  very  meagre  because  of  the  lack  of  coal  outcrops. 


30 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Like  coal  No.  2,  the  St.  Louis  limestone  in  the  region  under  discussion, 
has  a  general  dip  to  the  south  of  east.  It  dips  from  the  highest  elevation 
of  580  or  590  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  Huntsville  and  the  northwest  part  of 
Schuyler  County  to  the  lowest  elevation  of  about  450  feet  along  Illinois 
River  between  Browning  and  Frederick.  Furthermore,  the  total  amount 
of  dip  of  these  two  horizons  is  about  the  same,  being  130  feet  for  coal  No. 
2  and  140  feet  for  the  St.  Louis  limestone.  Upon  this  general  structure 
of  the  St.  Louis  limestone  there  are  also  minor  structural  features  similar 
to  those  shown  by  coal  No.  2. 

Because  of  the  general  parallelism  between  coal  No.  2  and  the  St. 
Louis  limestone,  and  especially  because  in  areas  where  exposures  of  the 
one  are  absent,  outcrops  of  the  other  are  commonly  present,  it  has  been 
regarded  advantageous  to  combine  the  data  regarding  the  two  beds  in  a 
single  map  on  which  the  altitude  of  the  beds  has  been  shown  by  means 
of  contour  lines.  Where  coal  No.  2  is  present  the  contours  represent  ele¬ 
vations  run  to  that  bed ;  where  it  has  been  eroded,  its  former  elevation  was 
determined  by  running  elevations  to  the  base  of  the  St.  Louis  limestone 
and  adding  to  this  figure  the  average  thickness  of  beds  between  the  base 
of  the  St.  Louis  and  coal  No.  2.  This  thickness  is  40  feet  at  the  southeast 
part  of  the  area  and  increases  regularly  toward  the  northwest  as  explained 
on  page  26.  At  the  northwest  corner  of  Schuyler  County  the  interval  is  75 
feet,  as  determined  by  Mr.  Hinds  in  his  work  in  the  Colchester  and  Macomb 
quadrangles. 

FOLDS  SHOWN  BY  COAL  NO.  2  AND  ST.  LOUIS  LIMESTONE 

A  minor  dome  has  been  formed  in  the  coal  to  the  east  of  Littleton, 
its  apex  being  in  secs.  12  and  13,  T.  3  N.,  R.  2  W.  (Littleton).  The  bed 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  rises  from  about  550  feet  on  the  southeast  and 
from  a  little  less  than  580  feet  on  the  north  to  its  maximum  elevation  of 
about  600  feet.  Both  the  St.  Louis  limestone  and  coal  No.  2  between  secs. 
8  and  21,  T.  2  N.,  R.  2  W.  (Buena  Vista),  lie  at  elevations  10  to  20  feet 
higher  than  they  do  in  the  immediate  vicinity  to  the  north,  east,  and  south, 
as  indicated  on  the  map  (Plate  I).  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  the 
rise  of  the  beds  is  a  very  slight  one. 

Coal  No.  2  in  secs.  14  and  9,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  (Woodstock),  and  the 
St.  Louis  limestone  in  sec.  33,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  (at  Ripley),  reach  elevations 
20  to  30  feet  higher  than  they  do  in  the  adjoining  territory.  Between 
these  points  elevations  of  the  beds  are  not  available  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  not  exposed  at  the  surface.  The  area  of  elevated  strata  is 
probably  about  as  that  represented  on  the  map  (PI.  I)  within  the  limits 
of  the  540-foot  contour  line.  It  is  also  a  minor  feature  with  unknown  limits. 

In  sec.  7,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  (Woodstock),  and  in  secs.  10,  11,  and  13, 
T.  1  N.,  R.  3  W.  (Missouri) — that  is,  at  Scott  Mill — the  St.  Louis  lime- 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


31 


stone  reaches  an  elevation  50  or  60  feet  higher  than  it  does  to  the  south. 
Although  elevations  are  not  obtainable  to  the  north,  the  limits  of  the  elevated 
beds  are  probably  correctly  shown  by  the  570-foot  contour  line.  Coal  No. 
2  lies  at  a  higher  elevation  along  what  seems  to  be  a  small  anticline  whose 
axis  runs  southwest  from  sec.  5,  T.  1  N.,  R.  3  W.  (Missouri),  through 
sec.  13,  T.  1  N.,  R.  4  W.  (Pea  Ridge)  ;  but  here  also  the  rise  is  only  a  few 
feet.  The  coal  bed  also  rises  rather  rapidly  westward  from  520  feet  to  580 
feet  in  sec.  4,  T.  1  S.,  R.  3  W.  (Mt.  Sterling)  ;  but  unfortunately  lack  of 
exposures  and  of  field  study  makes  it  impossible  to  state  now  whether  this 
bed  continues  to  rise  in  this  direction  or  culminates  here  in  its  highest 
observed  point. 

In  the  area  under  discussion  the  greatest  elevation  which  coal  No.  2 
attains  is  near  the  county  line  slightly  north  of  west  of  Huntsville  where  the 
bed  is  more  than  630  feet  above  sea  level.  The  exact  nature  of  this  struc¬ 
ture  is  not  clear,  because  the  bed  is  concealed  to  the  west.  It  seems  probable 
that  it  is  an  elongate  dome,  although  it  may  be  a  terrace  from  which  the 
bed  rises  to  the  north  or  to  the  west,  or  in  both  directions.  The  structure  is 
more  pronouncedly  revealed  by  the  contours  on  the  base  of  the  St.  Louis 
limestone  which  reaches  its  maximium  height  slightly  to  the  northeast  of 
that  of  coal  No.  2.  or  along  a  curved  line  extending  from  secs.  34  and  35 
northwest  to  sec.  17,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.  (Birmingham).  From  the  east  the 
St.  Louis  rises  rather  rapidly  from  530  or  540  feet  to  580  or  590  feet  along 
this  belt  of  elevated  beds.  Unfortunately  there  are  no  outcrops  to  the  west 
which  would  show  the  altitude  of  the  limestone  farther  in  this  direction, 
but  the  suggestions  are  that  the  bed  dips  to  the  west,  beyond  the  belt  of 
elevated  strata,  thus  forming  an  elongated  dome.  If  on  the  contrary  the 
limestone  rises  to  the  west  then  the  structure  is  a  terrace  rather  than  an 
elongated  dome.  At  any  rate,  there  is  a  sudden  arrest  of  the  rapidly  rising 
limestone  along  this  belt  of  elevated  strata  and  there  is  a  terrace  on  the 
steeper  portion  of  the  dipping  limestone  two  miles  east  of  Huntsville  as 
shown  on  Plate  I.  The  Huntsville  uplift  is  represented  graphically  on  the 
map  by  contours  based  on  both  the  limestone  and  coal  elevations. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Because  the  oil-producing  bed  is  lenticular  and  is  absent  over  consider¬ 
able  areas,  the  selection  of  favorable  locations  for  drilling  is  fraught  with 

more  than  the  usual  element  of  uncertaintv.  There  is  little  doubt  that  in  some 

- 

of  the  areas  described  below,  the  sand  is  absent,  and  in  this  event  there  will 
be  no  accumulation  of  oil  despite  the  favorable  geological  structure.  It 
is  hoped  that  the  sand  is  present  in  at  least  a  few  of  the  areas  listed  below 
so  that  the  combination  of  porous  beds  with  favorable  dips  may  be  tested. 
The  presence  or  absence  of  the  sand  cannot  be  predicted  in  advance  of  the 
drill. 


32 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


The  general  plan  of  prospecting  here  proposed  recommends  the  drilling 
of  the  more  pronounced  domes  and  anticlines  first.  Further  testing  will 
then  depend  on  ( 1 )  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  Hoing  oil  sand,  and  (2) 
if  present,  whether  it  is  (a)  dry,  (b)  contains  oil,  or  (c)  contains  salt 
water  (see  figure  13  and  discussion  on  pages  26-29). 

1.  Ordinarily  the  dome  on  top  of  the  terrace-like  area  in  parts  of  secs. 

7,  8,  17,  and  18,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.  would  be  recommended  for  drilling. 
However,  the  Henry  Pearson  well  in  the  NW.  Ft  sec.  19,  which  taps  the 
Hoing  sand  horizon  not  more  than  10  feet  below  the  top  of  the  dome, 
struck  neither  oil  nor  salt  water.  Wells  in  sec.  9,  about  one  mile  from  the 
top  of  the  dome  and  only  slightly  below  it  structurally,  proved  to  be  dry, 
and  no  salt  water  was  found.  A  trace  of  oil  was  reported  in  the  A.  D. 
Lawton  well  in  sec.  1,  T.  3  N.,  R.  5  W.  about  2  miles  northwest  of  the 
dome  mentioned.  The  Beard,  Stark,  and  Gordon  wells  located  from  2 
to  4  miles  southwest  of  the  dome  and  structurally  25  to  30  feet  lower 
showed  neither  oil  nor  salt  water.  Thus,  the  dome  does  not  seem  favorable. 

The  only  other  location  not  tested  is  the  top  of  the  dome  near  the  east 
side.  A  hole  at  the  SW.  cor.  SE.  34  NW.  Ft  sec.  17,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W. 
would  test  the  oil  horizon  on  the  side  of  the  dome  from  which  the  oil 
might  have  come. 

2.  In  the  shaded  parts  of  secs.  26,  27,  34,  35,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.  and  secs. 

2  and  3,  T.  2  N.,  R.  4  W.,  as  shown  on  the  map,  the  beds  lie  approximately 
flat.  They  dip  noticeably  east,  south,  and  north  from  this  area.  A  well 
in  the  SE.  cor.  SW.  Ft  SW.  34  sec.  35,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.  would  test  the 
sand  on  top  of  the  terrace  near  its  side  where  conditions  are  favorable 
for  accumulation. 

3.  If  the  sand  is  present  in  the  terrace  mentioned  under  2,  and  if  it 
should  prove  devoid  of  oil  and  salt  water  as  well,  although  sufficiently 
porous  to  hold  these  materials,  it  is  suggested  that  a  hole  be  drilled  at  the 
center  of  sec.  22,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.  where  the  sand  lies  in  a  syncline  and 
about  65  feet  lower  than  in  the  top  of  the  dome  2  miles  northwest.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  this  test  is  not  recommended  until  after  the 
terrace  described  above  is  drilled. 

4.  The  eastern  end  of  a  small  terrace  covers  parts  of  secs.  14,  15,  22. 

23,  and  27,  T.  3  N.,  R.  3  W.  If  the  coal  were  present,  its  elevation  would 

be  about  596  on  this  terrace,  about  35  feet  lower  than  on  the  terrace 

described  above.  The  beds  dip  north,  east,  and  south,  and  although  it  N 
is  not  a  large  feature,  the  terrace  seems  to  merit  at  least  one  test  which 

might  well  be  located  in  the  NE.  cor.  SE.  Ft  sec.  22.  T.  3  X.,  R.  3  W. 

There  is  considerable  area  to  the  east  from  which  the  oil  might  have  been 
derived,  and  the  flattening  of  the  beds  here  is  favorable  for  accumulation. 

5.  Outcrops  at  the  east  quarter  corner  of  sec.  8  and  in  the  NW.  cor. 

sec.  21,  T.  2  N.,  R.  2  W.  (Buena  Vista)  show  that  the  beds  lie  20  or  30  ^ 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


33 


feet  higher  than  in  the  surrounding  sections  and  probably  show  that  a 
slight  dome  exists  in  the  area  shaded  on  the  map,  covering  parts  of  secs. 
4,  8,  9,  10,  16,  17,  20,  and  21,  T.  2  N.,  R.  2  W.  A  well  in  the  center 
SW.  y  sec.  9,  would  test  the  highest  part  of  the  dome.  The  center  of 
the  SW.  y  sec.  16,  would  be  an  equally  good  location. 

6.  In  the  center  of  the  SW.  y  NE.  y  sec.  13,  T.  3  N.,  R.  2  W.  the  coal 
lies  590  feet  above  sea  level,  slightly  higher  than  in  the  surrounding  area. 
It  is  probable  that  the  highest  part  of  the  arch  lies  /4  to  ^4  mile  northeast 
of  this  outcrop,  or  at  the  northeast  corner  of  sec.  13.  The  beds  have  a 
slight  dip  in  all  directions  from  this  point.  In  point  of  fact,  this  feature 
is  scarcely  more  than  a  terrace  southeast  of  which  the  beds  dip  toward  a 
pronounced  syncline.  To  the  north  and  northwest  in  the  Macomb  quad¬ 
rangle  the  sand  lies  almost  flat  for  10  miles.  A  well  near  the  NE.  cor.  sec. 
13,  T.  3  N.,  R.  2  W.,  would  test  the  highest  part  of  the  low  arch. 

7.  Outcrops  in  the  northwest  part  of  T.  1  N.,  R.  3  W.  and  in  the  north¬ 
east  part  of  T.  1  N.,  R.  4  W.  appear  to  reveal  an  anticline  whose  axis 
extends  from  about  the  center  of  sec.  5,  T.  1  N.,  R.  3  W.  southwest  through 
the  center  of  the  west  line  of  sec.  18.  Field  work  has  not  been  carried 
southwest  of  this  point.  Along  the  axis  the  beds  lies  20  or  30  feet  higher 
than  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  two  on  either  side.  If  drilling  is  done  along 
this  anticline  it  is  recommended  that  the  wells  be  located  slightly  east  of 
the  axis  as  indicated. 

8.  In  the  area  including  parts  of  secs.  6,  7,  and  8,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  and 
secs.  1,  11,  12,  13,  and  14,  T.  1  N.,  R.  3  W.  the  beds  are  arched  into  a 
dome.  The  dip  on  the  south  and  east  is  greater  than  in  other  directions 
and  can  be  seen  without  instrumental  leveling  in  the  valley  of  Crooked 
Creek.  At  the  top  of  the  dome  the  sand  beds  lie  at  least  50  feet  higher 
than  in  the  syncline  which  borders  it  on  the  southeast.  North  and  west 
of  the  dome  the  dip  is  very  gentle.  Wells  placed  at  the  base  of  the  blufif 
in  the  NW.  y  sec.  7,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  or  in  the  SE.  cor.  sec.  12  would 
test  the  dome  slightly  east  of  the  top  where  accumulation  might  reasonably 
be  expected. 

9.  A  flat,  elongate  dome  separated  from  the  one  just  described  by  a 
syncline,  exists  in  parts  of  secs.  9,  10,  11,  14,  15,  16,  20,  21,  22,  23,  27,  28, 
29,  32,  and  33,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  Outcrops  here  are  not  as  numerous  as 
would  be  desirable,  but  they  indicate  that  from  the  area  shaded  on  the 
map  the  beds  dip  slightly  in  all  directions.  Structurally,  the  beds  in  this 
dome  lie  about  30  feet  lower  than  in  the  area  described  immediately  above. 

There  is  a  considerable  latitute  for  the  selection  of  test  wells  in  this 
dome  but  it  is  recommended  that  drilling  be  done  first  in  the  east  half  of 
the  area  shown  by  shading  on  the  map.  So  far  as  structure  is  effective, 
wells  in  the  SE.  y  sec.  28,  SW.  y  sec.  22,  and  center  of  sec.  14,  T.  1  N., 
R.  2  W.  would  be  equally  favorable. 


34 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


10.  Northwest  of  Frederick,  in  parts  of  secs.  6  and  7,  T.  1  N.,  R.  1  E. 
and  secs.  11  and  12,  T.  1  N.,  R.  1  W.,  the  beds  lie  flat;  whereas  east, 
south,  and  northeast  there  is  a  noticeable  dip.  Northwest  of  the  area, 
exposures  are  lacking  hut  it  is  thought  that  the  beds  lie  almost  flat.  Judging 
from  structure  and  without  any  knowledge  of  the  sand  or  salt  water,  there 
is  a  possibility  of  some  accumulation  along  the  outer  edge  of  this  terrace. 
So  far  as  can  be  determined  from  the  outcrops  a  well  in  the  SW.  *4  SW. 
J4  of  sec.  7,  T.  1  N.,  R.  1  E.  would  be  located  properly  with  regard  to 
structure. 

If  the  normal  oil-bearing  horizon  is  barren  of  oil  and  salt  water,  it 
would  be  well  to  test  the  syncline  which  borders  the  terrace  on  the  north¬ 
east  and  is  outlined  on  the  map  by  the  500-foot  contour  line.  Whereas  oil 
in  synclines  would  be  a  new  discovery  for  Illinois,  it  must  be  recognized 
that  such  accumulation  is  possible,  and  is  well  known  elsewhere. 

11.  Along  the  north  line  of  T.  1  S.,  R.  3  W.,  Brown  County,  the  beds 
were  found  to  rise  noticeably  toward  the  west,  but  field  work  was  not  con¬ 
tinued  west  of  sec.  4  of  this  township  where  the  coal  lies  583  feet  above  sea 
level  or  60  feet  higher  than  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township.  It  is 
hoped  that  field  mapping  may  be  continued  south  and  west  during  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1915  to  determine  the  position  of  the  beds  in  that  region. 

LOCALITIES  ALREADY  TESTED 

Of  the  wells  drilled  in  the  wild-cat  territory  to  date,  only  two  were 
located  where  the  structure  appears  favorable.  The  Henry  Pearson  well 
near  the  center  of  sec.  19,  T.  3  N.,  R.  4  W.,  (Birmingham),  is  near  the  high¬ 
est  part  of  the  dome  northwest  of  Huntsville,  and  since  it  is  dry,  it  is  believed 
that  this  well  discredits  the  dome,  although  it  is  not  located  at  the  most 
favorable  part,  namely,  the  eastern  side  of  the  dome  as  mentioned  under 
No.  1  of  “Recommendations.” 

A  new  well  completed  April  15  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Cary  southwest  of 
Rushville  in  the  NE.  At  SW.  J4  sec.  11,  T.  1  N.,  R.  2  W.  is  located  at  the 
northeast  side  of  a  dome  described  under  No.  9  of  “Recommendations.” 
This  well  was  drilled  to  915  feet,  which  is  about  75  feet  below  the  top  of 
the  Trenton  limestone.  A  small  show  of  oil  was  noted  near  the  top  of 
the  Trenton,  but  no  mention  of  oil  is  made  in  the  Niagaran  at  the  horizon 
of  the  Hoing  sand.  A  large  amount  of  fresh  water  was  found  down  to 
about  400  feet.  Samples  from  the  Trenton  here  show  that  it  is  not  dol- 
omitic  and  that  it  would  probably  not  be  a  good  reservoir  for  oil.  The 
well  is  not  regarded  as  favorably  located  as  if  it  were  two  miles  southwest, 
near  the  crest  of  the  flat  dome. 


Table  1. — Drill  holes  in  the  area  south  of  the  Colmar  field 


THE  AREA  SOUTH  OF  THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


35 


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— 

THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD— A  RESTUDY 

By  William  C.  Morse  and  Fred  H.  Kay 


(In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey) 


OUTLINE 

PAGE 

Original  study  of  region  and  prediction  of  oil .  38 

Restudy  of  the  field .  38 

Beds  penetrated  in  drilling .  39 

Position  and  depth  of  oil-bearing  bed .  40 

Possibility  of  lower  sands .  40 

Position  of  Hoing  sand  above  sea  level .  40 

Conditions  governing  accumulation  in  Colmar  field .  42 

Oil-bearing  bed .  42 

Erratic  position  of  salt  water .  43 

Origin  of  the  oil . • .  44 

Extension  of  Colmar  field .  44 

Summary  .  45 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE  PAGE 

II  Map  showing  location  of  wells  in  secs.  9,  10,  15,  and  16,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W. .  38 

III  Map  of  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles  including  Colmar  oil  field....  44 

FIGURE 

13.  Cross-section  showing  the  position  of  the  oil  sand  in  the  Colmar  field .  43 


TABLES 

2.  List  of  wells  in  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles .  47 


(37) 


ORIGINAL  STUDY  OF  REGION  AND  PREDICTION  OF  OIL 


The  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles,  in  which  the  Colmar  oil 
field  is  located,  were  examined  in  1912  by  Llenry  Hinds  of  the  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey  in  cooperation  with  the  State  Geological  Survey. 

In  order  to  learn  the  position  of  the  beds,  Mr.  Hinds  determined  the 
elevation  of  coal  No.  2  above  sea  level  at  a  large  number  of  places  and 
where  the  coal  has  been  eroded,  levels  were  run  to  outcrops  of  beds  whose 
distance  below  the  coal  is  known.  His  maps,  published  as  Plate  I,  Extract 
from  bulletin  23,  State  Geological  Survey,  May  1914,  show  a  pronounced 
doming  of  the  strata  between  Plymouth  and  Colmar,  the  highest  part  lying 
in  secs.  19  and  20,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W.,  where  the  coal  would  be  720  feet 
above  sea  level  were  it  not  eroded.  The  dip  toward  the  east  and  south  is 
greater  than  that  toward  the  north  and  west. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Hinds’  field  work  no  wells  had  been  drilled  closer 
than  4  miles  from  the  top  of  the  dome,  but  the  favorable  nature  of  the 
structure  led  him  to  suggest  the  possibility  of  petroleum  accumulation  in 
the  dome.  He  also  mentioned  the  existence  of  a  smaller  dome  in  sections 
29  and  30  north  of  Macomb.  The  following  quotation  is  taken  from  his 
report : 

“Under  those  conditions  (tilted  beds  saturated  with  salt  water)  accumulation 
takes  place  in  the  anticlines  or  arches  or  at  the  upper  borders  of  dipping  porous  areas, 
(terraces  [Editor])  where  the  porous  rocks  are  at  higher  altitudes  than  in  adjacent 
areas.  A  glance  at  the  accompanying  structure  map  will  show  that  one  such  anti¬ 
cline  lies  two  miles  northeast  of  Plymouth  only  four  miles  northwest  of  well  Xo.  4 
near  Birmingham.  It  is,  perhaps,  significant  that  the  best  reported  showing  of  oil 
was  in  well  No.  4,  the  one  that  is  situated  nearest  the  crest  of  this  dome-shaped  anti¬ 
cline,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  at  least  one  of  the  drillings  was  not  made  in  the 
more  promising  territory.  A  similar  but  less  pronounced  dome  exists  near  Macomb”.1 

RESTUDY  OF  THE  FIELD 

Since  the  completion  of  Hinds’  report  in  1912  and  its  publication 
in  May  1914,  nearly  180  wells  have  been  drilled  in  the  region,  of  which 
more  than  130  located  in  secs.  9,  10,  15  and  16,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  \Y.  are 
productive  (see  Plate  II).  Roberts  No.  1  well  sec.  24,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  \\  . 
and  a  new  well  on  the  J.  M.  Wear  farm  SE.  J4  NW.  14  sec.  14,  T.  4  NT 
R.  4  W.  are,  up  to  date,  the  only  commercially  productive  wells  brought  in 
outside  of  the  four  sections  mentioned  above. 

The  large  amount  of  information  made  available  by  the  drill  rendered 
further  study  of  the  field  desirable  in  order  to  determine  (1)  the  position 

’Hinds,  Henry,  Oil  and  gas  in  the  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles:  Ill.  Geol.  Survey 
Extract  Bull.  23,  pp.  11-13,  1914. 


(38) 


ILT 


T.4N.  LAMOINE 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  II 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


39 


of  the  sand  above  sea  level,  (2)  the  relation  of  the  position  of  the  oil  sand 
to  that  of  the  surface  key  rock,  and  (3)  the  conditions  under  which  the 
oil  accumulated.  The  additional  field  work  by  the  senior  author  in  1914 
consisted  of  the  collection  of  drill  records  and  instrumental  leveling  to 
determine  the  elevation  of  the  wells  above  sea  level. 


BEDS  PENETRATED  IN  DRILLING 


Detailed  descriptions  of  the  formations  are  presented  under  the  topic 
“Stratigraphy”  in  the  first  report  of  this  bulletin.  The  following  log  of 
Griggsby  No.  1  is  presented,  since  it  furnishes  at  a  glance,  knowledge 
regarding  the  beds  down  to  and  including  a  large  part  of  the  Trenton 
limestone.  Most  of  the  wells  are  drilled  only  to  the  normal  oil-producing 
horizon  at  the  base  of  the  “second  lime”  as  shown  on  the  printed  log. 

Records  from  the  adjoining  region  are  very  similar  to  this  one.  except 
that  from  some  places,  especially  east  and  south  of  the  field,  they  show  a 
greater  thickness  of  material  above  the  “first  lime.”  In  the  wells  of  the 
producing  field  the  coal-bearing  beds  lying  beneath  the  drift  are  almost 
entirely  eroded;  whereas  farther  east  and  south  the  “first  lime”  is  found  at 
a  considerably  greater  depth  and  is  overlain  by  shales,  sandstones,  and 
interbedded  coals. 


Drill  record  of  Griggsby  No.  i  well ,  W .  G  SE.  G  T.  4  A7.,  R.  4  W . 

Elevation  above  sea  level  576  feet 

Thickness  Depth 


Surface  deposits  Feei  Feet 

Soil  and  clay . . .  25  26 

Carboniferous  system 
Mississippian  series 


St.  Louis  and  Osage  groups 

Limestone,  gray . 

Mud  . . . 

Limestone,  white,  sandy . . 

Limestone,  gray,  water  at  115  feet. .  , 
Limestone,  white  . 

Kinderhook  and  Upper  Devonian  shales 


“Lirst 

lime” 


Mud,  white . 

Shale,  brown  . 

“Slate,”  white,  and  mud . 

Shale,  brown . 

“Slate,”  white,  and  shale . 

Mud,  white . 

“Slate,”  white,  sandy . 

Shale,  brown . 

“Slate,”  white,  sandy . !' . 

Devonian  and  Silurian  systems 

Limestone,  gray,  show  of  oil  425  to  432  feet,  “Second  lime” 


10 

10 

44 

55 

35 


30 

10 

40 

10 

20 

21 

67 

7 

15 


34 


36 

46 

90 

145 

180 

210 

220 

260 

270 

290 

311 

378 

385 

400 

434 


40 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Ordovician  system  Ft.  In. 

Richmond  (Maquoketa)  shale 

“Slate”  and  shale .  187  621 

Kimmswick-Plattin  (Trenton)  limestone 

Limestone,  white .  29  650 

Limestone,  brown .  155  805 


POSITION  AND  DEPTH  OF  OIL  SAND 

The  Hoing  oil  sand  was  named  from  the  first  producing  well  in  the 
field.  It  consists  of  well-rounded  quartzitic  grains  and  is  lenticular  in  its 
occurrence.  It  lies  on  the  Maquoketa  shale,  and  at  the  base  of  the  “second 
lime.”  It  is  believed  to  have  accumulated  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Maquo¬ 
keta  surface  and  to  have  been  reworked  by  the  Niagaran  sea.  It  repre¬ 
sents,  therefore,  the  basal  part  of  the  Niagaran.  In  places  it  is  overlain 
by  Niagaran  dolomite  and  where  the  latter  is  eroded  it  is  capped  by  the 
Hamilton  limestone. 

POSSIBILITY  OF  LOWER  SANDS 

The  only  other  horizon  in  the  Colmar  field  in  which  oil  might  reasonably 
be  sought  is  the  Trenton  limestone  which  lies  100  to  200  feet  below  the 
Hoing  sand  and  is  separated  from  it  by  shale.  Samples  of  the  Trenton 
from  the  region  of  Colmar  show  that  it  is  a  pure  limestone  and  does  not 
tend  to  be  sufficiently  porous  to  act  as  a  reservoir  for  oil  and  gas.  The 
odor  of  petroleum  and  a  small  show  of  oil  have  been  noted  in  places  near 
the  top  of  the  formation,  but  no  accumulation  has  been  found.  The  Trenton 
was  penetrated  184  feet  in  Griggsby  No.  1  and  it  may  be  as  much  as  400 
feet  thick.  In  order  to  test  all  possible  oil-bearing  beds,  the  Trenton  should 
be  penetrated  by  a  few  holes  in  each  area  where  conditions  are  favorable. 

The  St.  Peter  sandstone  which  underlies  the  Trenton,  has  never  pro¬ 
duced  oil  in  Illinois.  When  penetrated  in  central  and  southern  Illinois,  it 
generally  yields  an  abundant  supply  of  highly  mineralized  water.  The 
amount  of  salts  increases  toward  the  south. 

o 

POSITION  OF  HOING  OIL  SAND  ABOVE  SEA  LEVEL 

In  order  to  show  the  parallelism  between  the  beds  outcroping  at  the 
surface  and  the  oil  sand,  as  well  as  the  similarity  in  the  folds  affecting  all 
of  the  beds  down  to  and  including  the  oil  sand,  Plate  III  has  been  prepared 
by  printing  in  red,  over  the  former  map  showing  the  position  of  the  coal 
above  sea  level,  a  new  set  of  contours  which  discloses  the  position  and 
nature  of  the  dome  in  the  oil  sand. 

The  detailed  structure  of  the  oil  sand,  the  determination  of  which 
is  made  possible  by  the  drilling  of  a  large  number  of  wells  in  a  small 
area,  confirms  in  an  extremely  satisfactory  manner  the  value  of  ascer- 

3— B— 31 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


41 


taining  the  structure  of  the  outcropping  beds  prior  to  drilling.  The  crest 
of  the  dome,  as  shown  by  the  coal  and  the  St.  Louis  limestone,  is  identical 


in  position  with  the  apex  as  disclosed  by  the  depth  of  the  oil  sand  in  the 
Collins  well  in  the  SE  *4  sec.  20..  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W. 


42 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


It  must  be  remembered  that  most  of  the  region  is  covered  by  glacial 
deposits ;  and  on  the  surface,  instead  of  being  able  to  see  the  bed  rock  over 
a  large  area,  the  geologist  is  limited  to  scattered  outcrops  for  his  obser¬ 
vations,  and  it  is  to  be  expected  that  details  of  structure,  such  as  terraces, 
may  not  be  disclosed  if  outcrops  are  separated  by  considerable  distances. 

Mr.  Hinds’  coal  contours  and  the  contours  on  the  oil  sand  by  Mr. 
Morse,  differ  only  in  detail.  The  axis  as  shown  by  the  sand  extends  east 
and  west;  whereas  Mr.  Hinds’  map  pictures  it  as  a  line  extending  a  few 
degrees  north  of  west.  Figure  13  us  a  cross-section  showing  the  position 
of  the  oil  sand  along  a  line  from  the  SW.  cor.  sec.  27,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  \Y. 
to  a  point  a  short  distance  south  of  the  center  of  sec.  11,  T.  4  X..  R.  4  W. 
Had  the  outcrops  been  as  numerous  and  as  closely  spaced  as  are  the  oil  wells 
in  secs.  9,  10,  15,  and  16,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W.  (Lamoine),  the  existence  of 
the  terrace  would  have  been  revealed  in  1912.  The  beds  at  the  top  of  the 
dome  lie  about  70  feet  higher  than  on  the  terrace.  No  similar  flat  has  thus 
far  been  disclosed  by  drilling  in  other  parts  of  the  Colmar  dome.  The  beds 
dip  away  from  the  terrace  in  all  directions  except  southwest. 

CONDITIONS  GOVERNING  ACCUMULATION  IN  THE 

COLMAR  FIELD 

The  accumulation  of  oil  in  the  Colmar  field,  with  the  exception  of 
Roberts  No.  1  well  mentioned  later,  is  confined  to  the  terrace  on  the  north¬ 
east  side  of  the  dome.  Most  of  the  wells  on  the  terrace  reach  the  sand 
85  to  95  feet  above  sea  level.  Griggsby  No.  1  and  Collins  No.  1  located  on 
the  crest  of  the  dome  produced  only  a  show  of  oil  at  elevations  of  167 
and  151  respectively;  whereas  Roberts  No.  1,  two  miles  west  of  the 
former  wells  had  an  initial  daily  production  of  45  barrels  from  the  Hoing 
sand  at  an  elevation  of  163  feet  above  sea  level.  However,  the  latter  well 
is  surrounded  by  dry  holes  and  its  production  has  declined  rapidly  to  a  few 
barrels. 

The  striking  differences  in  elevation  between  the  oil  in  Roberts  No.  1 
and  in  the  main  field  seem  to  be  the  result  of  (1)  the  nature  of  the  oil¬ 
bearing  bed  and  (2)  the  erratic  position  of  the  salt  water.  The  second 
feature  is  probably  due  in  large  measure  to  the  first. 

Oil-bearing  Bed 

In  the  main  field  the  oil  sand  has  an  average  thickness  of  14  feet.  It 
ranges  from  5  feet  to  more  than  30  feet  but  in  its  greater  thicknesses  certain 
horizons  are  more  productive  than  others.  Outside  of  the  producing  field, 
many  wells  show  no  porous  bed  capable  of  holding  oil ;  after  passing 
through  the  “second  lime”  the  drill  penetrates  blue  shale  which  probably 
is  the  top  of  the  Maquoketa  shale. 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


43 


The  oil  sand  exists  in  lenses  and  is  surrounded  completely  by  im- 
previons  beds,  consequently  it  is  natural  for  oil  or  salt  water  or  both  to  exist 
in  separated  areas  at  different  altitudes  with  barren  areas  between. 

Collins  No.  1  and  Griggsby  No.  1  wells  produced  only  a  show  of  ('til 
and  no  salt  water,  but  practically  no  porous  beds  were  found  at  the  base  of 
the  Hamilton  limestone;  whereas  in  Roberts  No.  1,  two  miles  west,  20  feet 
of  porous  beds  are  reported  under  the  “second  lime,”  and  the  oil  is  found 
in  the  upper  10  feet.  A  short  distance  down  dip  from  Roberts  No.  1 
these  same  porous  beds  are  saturated  with  salt  water. 

Erratic  Position  of  Salt  Water 

Salt  water  is  found  on  the  terrace  from  10  to  15  feet  below  the  top 
of  the  sand.  A.  N.  Wear  Nos.  2,  4,  and  6  and  many  of  the  wells  on  the 
Thomas  McFadden  leases  yielded  salt  water  the  first  day  and  considerable 
oil  thereafter.  Most  of  the  wells  lower  down  the  dip  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
terrace  contain  salt  water  if  the  sand  is  present.  South  and  west  of  the 
terrace  and  in  the  higher  part  of  the  dome  salt  water  fills  the  sands  in  the 
vicinity  of  Roberts  No.  1  well  40  to  70  feet  higher  than  the  salt  water  in 
the  terrace. 

It  is  believed  that  the  difference  in  elevation  may  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  sand  exists  in  two  separated  areas  and  that  between  the  two 
the  relatively  non-porous  limestone  directly  overlies  the  Maquoketa  shale 
and  the  general  result  is  an  area  of  impervious  strata  separating  two 
distinct  lenses  of  porous,  oil-  and  water-bearing  beds.  The  conditions 
influencing  accumulation,  therefore,  act  independently  in  the  two  separated 
areas. 

It  is  believed  that  a  small  lens  of  oil  sand  exists  in  the  vicinity  of 
Roberts  No.  1.  Sometime  after  it  had  been  covered  by  the  overlying 
formations,  oil  and  salt  water,  probably  from  the  Trenton  limestone  below, 
migrated  upward  through  the  Maquoketa  shale  and  found  lodgment  in 
the  porous  sands.  As  long  as  the  beds  lay  flat,  there  was  probably  no 
definite  rearrangement  of  the  oil  and  salt  water ;  but  after  the  “Coal 
Measures”  were  deposited,  folding  began  which  finally  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  Colmar  dome,  the  Lamoine  terrace,  and  the  other  struc¬ 
tural  features  of  the  region. 

Rearrangement  began  immediately,  the  final  position  of  the  oil  depend¬ 
ing  on  the  proportion  of  oil  and  water  in  the  porous  material  (see  figure 
13  and  discussion).  That  the  lens  of  oil-bearing  sand  at  the  Roberts  wells 
is  small  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  production  of  No.  1  has  rapidly 
decreased  from  45  barrels  per  day  to  only  a  few  barrels,  and  there  seems 
to  be  little  hope  of  opening  up  a  large  production  in  the  immediate 
vicinity. 


44 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


The  general  mechanics  of  accumulation  in  the  producing  terrace  were 
the  same  as  those  outlined  above.  The  larger  amount  of  oil  in  the  terrace 
is  due  probably  to  the  fact  that  the  mass  of  oil  sand  of  which  that  on  the 
terrace  is  only  a  part,  must  be  very  large,  and  after  the  folding  of  the  beds 
took  place  the  terrace,  being  the  highest  part  of  the  lens,  received  all  of 
the  oil  by  virtue  of  the  difference  in  specific  gravity  between  oil  and  salt 
water,  and  the  high  degree  of  saturation  of  the  sands. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  OIL 

No  quantitative  analysis  of  the  organic  material  in  the  beds  of  western 
Illinois  are  available  to  furnish  a  basis  for  assigning  the  origin  of  the  oil 
to  any  single  formation.  However,  field  examination  in  that  part  of  the 
State  has  emphasized  the  oily  character  of  the  Trenton.  The  odor  of 
petroleum  is  distinctly  noticeable  at  most  places  on  the  outcrop  and  recent 
drilling  in  Schuyler  County  has  disclosed  the  same  characteristics.  In  many 
places  the  Trenton  is  composed  largely  of  shells  which  give  evidence  of 
the  enormous  amount  of  organic  matter  originally  in  the  formation. 

The  “sweet”  nature  of  the  oil  as  mentioned  in  Extract  from  Bull.  23 
has  been  a  puzzling  feature,  since  it  is  closely  associated  with  limestones 
which  generally  produce  the  “sulphur”  or  “sour”  oils.  However,  if  the 
oil  originated  in  the  Trenton  and  finally  found  its  way  upward  through 
the  Maquoketa  shales  into  the  Niagaran,  the  sulphur  would  have  been 
removed  by  filtration  through  the  shale  and  “sweet”  oil  would  result. 
Further  work  is  necessary  before  the  origin  of  the  oil  can  be  definitely 
assigned  to  the  proper  formation. 

EXTENSION  OF  COLMAR  FIELD 

Up  to  date,  practically  the  entire  production  has  been  from  sec.  9,  10, 
15,  and  16,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W.  (Lamoine).  Hartsook  No.  1,  NW.  34  SE.  34 
sec.  14  contained  no  sand,  but  the  bottom  of  the  “second  lime”  which 
marks  the  top  of  the  normal  oil  sand  lies  90  feet  above  sea  level  or  at  the 
same  elevation  as  the  sand  on  the  terrace  one-half  mile  west.  If  the  sand 
is  present  in  any  part  of  the  SW.  34  sec.  14,  it  should  contain  oil.  A  good 
well  has  now  been  brought  in  by  the  Ohio  Oil  Co.  in  the  SE.  34  NW.  34 
sec.  14,  about  one-half  mile  east  of  the  McFadden  wells,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  much  of  the  area  inside  of  the  90-foot  contour  in 
sec.  14  as  shown  on  Plate  III  will  prove  to  be  productive. 

The  territory  south  and  west  of  Colmar  between  the  Bott  well  in  the 
SW.  34  sec.  1,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  W.  and  the  Roberts  wells  in  sec.  24  of  the 
same  township  has  not  been  sufficiently  prospected.  Wells  should  be  drilled 
in  the  S.  34  sec.  7  and  the  N.  34  sec.  18,  T.  4  N.,  R.  4  W. ;  also  in  the  S.  34 
sec.  12  and  the  N.  34  sec.  13,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  W.  The  sand  was  not  present 
in  the  Bott  vrell,  but  that  fact  does  not  condemn  the  territory  mentioned. 


SURVEYED  IN  COOPERATION 
U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVE 
GEORGE  OTIS  SMITH,  DIREC 


IS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

DUNNE,  T.  C.  CHAMBERLIN,  E.  J.  JAMES.  COMMISSIONERS 
FRANK  W.  DE  WOLF.  DIRECTOR 

QA°45'  '  TTTT3  


ILLINOIS  STATE  G 

GOVERNOR  E.  F.  DUNNE,  T.  C 
FRANK 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  III 


Public  roads 


Number*  refer  to  elevation  of  surface  above  sea  level 
■***•’  Private  roads 


,‘"\f  Approximate  outcrop  of  Murpliysborn  (No.  a)  cool 


^  Shipping  cool  mine 

X  Local  coal  mine 

^  Stone  quarry 

Clay  pit 


->■■■  _  <t~. -  — 

COLCHESTER  QUADRANGI 


62^0  J  Contour ..  allowing  elevation  of  Murphyaboro  (No.  a)  coal  bed  above  i 


^*)  J  Sume  with  uncertainty,  coal  III  greater  part  removed  by  croiion 

ety 


Contour*  showing  elevation  of  MurphyHboro  (No.  a)  coal  bed  before  remova 
'  ^  J  by  erosion.  Contour  Interval  jo  feet 


Q'*'  Contours  on  top  lining  sand 


Structure  Contour*  on  the  Colchester  (No.  2)  Coal 


by  Henry  Hind* 

(U.  H.  Geological  Surrey) 

1012 

Structure  Contours  on  Hoing  Oil  Sami 

by  Wm.  C.  Mora* 

1015 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


45 


when  the  possibility  of  a  terrace  and  the  lenticular  nature  of  the  sand  are 
considered. 


SUMMARY 

Consideration  of  the  information  thus  far  developed  in  the  Colmar  oil 
field  and  surrounding  territory  leads  to  the  following  conclusions : 

1.  The  oil  sand  and  the  overlying  beds  are  essentially  parallel  to  one 
another,  and  the  determination  of  the  “lay”  of  the  oil  sand  in 
advance  of  drilling  by  leveling  to  outcropping  beds  is  practicable. 

2.  The  oil-bearing  bed  is  a  porous  sandstone  lying  above  the 
Maquoketa  shale  and  at  the  base  of  the  “second  lime.”  A  show 
of  oil  is  noted  here  and  there  in  what  is  probably  the  base  of  the 
Niagaran  dolomite,  but  no  important  accumulation  is  known 
except  in  the  sand. 

3.  The  Maquoketa  shale  existed  as  land  surface  before  the  over- 
lying  beds  were  deposited  and  the  sands  that  now  contain  the  oil 
probably  accumulated  in  the  lower  areas  before  or  at  the  beginning 
of  the  submergence  which  caused  the  deposition  of  the  Niagaran. 
Afterward  the  latter  formation  was  exposed  to  erosion  at  the 
surface  and  in  many  places  streams  cut  their  channels  not  only 
down  through  the  Niagaran  but  also  into  the  Maquoketa  shale; 
thereby  removing  any  sand  that  may  have  existed  at  the  base  of 
the  Niagaran.  The  Hoing  sand,  therefore,  exists  as  separated 
lenses,  the  presence  or  absence  of  which  at  any  given  point  cannot 
be  predicted  in  advance  of  drilling. 

4.  The  accumulation  of  petroleum  depends  (1)  on  the  geological 
structure  of  each  particular  lens,  i.  e.,  the  dip  and  strike  of  the 
beds  and  (2)  the  relative  saturation  of  a  given  lens  by  oil  and 
salt  water. 

5.  The  accumulation  east  of  Colmar  is  on  a  flat  or  terrace  in  the 
sand,  on  the  northeast  side  of  a  pronounced  elongate  dome.  The 
crest  of  the  dome  is  barren  of  oil  except  at  the  west  end  where 
a  short-lived  well  was  drilled,  and  later  was  surrounded  by  wells 
producing  salt  water,  70  feet  higher  than  the  oil  in  the  main 
Colmar  field. 

6.  The  lens  of  which  the  producing  sand  on  the  terrace  is  a  part  is 
much  larger  than  the  one  tapped  by  Roberts  No.  1  at  the  west 
end  of  the  dome,  the  amount  of  oil  in  any  given  lens  being 
approximately  proportional  to  the  area  and  thickness  of  the  lens. 

7.  The  sand  of  the  producing  field  is  entirely  separated  from  that  at 
the  Roberts  wells,  consequently  there  is  no  relation  between  the 
altitude  of  the  oil  and  salt  water  at  the  two  places. 


46 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


8.  Some  extension  of  the  field  is  to  be  expected  around  the  edges  of 
the  present  producing  area,  especially  in  the  SW.  and  the 
S.  Y2  of  the  NW.  Y  sec.  14  as  mentioned  under  “Extension  of  the 
Colmar  field'’.  The  possibility  of  favorable  conditions  west  and 
south  of  Colmar  between  the  Roberts  and  the  Bott  wells,  is 
recognized  (see  text). 

9.  The  oil  may  have  originated  in  the  Trenton  limestone  and  migrated 
upward  through  the  Maquoketa  shales  to  the  porous  sand.  Its 
“sweet"  character  may  be  due  to  filtration  through  almost  200  feet 
of  shale  which  would  have  extracted  from  the  oil  most  of  its 
sulphur  content. 


Generalised  section  of  rocks  in  Colmar  oil  field  and  surrounding  territory 


System 

Series 

Drillers’ 

Interpretation 

Formation 

Character 

Thickness 

Alluvium — mostly  clay  and 

Feet 

sand ;  confined  to  the  pres- 

ent  valleys. 

Variable 

>> 

Loess — fine  material  between 

U 

a 

V 

clay  and  sand,  unconsoli- 

a 

u 

o 

aJ 

dated,  thicker  along  bluffs 

<v 

mh 

U 

of  larger  streams,  weathers 

3 

3 

in 

into  vertical  cliffs;  most 

a 

conspicuous  along  west 

bluffs  of  Illinois  River. 

0-75 

Drift  —  mixed  clay,  sand, 

Average-25 

gravel,  and  bowlders,  near 

In  filled  val- 

surface  on  uplands. 

leys-lOOH- 

Generalized  section  of  rocks  in  Colmar  oil  field  and  surrounding  territory 


System 


U 

a 

•— 

o 

5 


3 

O 


c 

o 

u 

3 

u 


s 
o 
> 
c J 

Q 


c 


C/5 


.2 

*G 

’> 

o 

■o 


Series 


c3 

> 


3 

rj 

Ph 


c 

.2 

"S 

Cu 


c 

u  2 

J?  > 


Drillers’ 

Interpretation 


o 

u 


in 


Formation 


Character 


Alluvium — mostly  clay  and 
sand ;  confined  to  the  pres¬ 
ent  valleys. 

Loess — fine  material  between 
clay  and  sand,  unconsoli¬ 
dated,  thicker  along  bluffs 
of  larger  streams,  weathers 
into  vertical  cliffs ;  most 
conspicuous  along  west 
bluffs  of  Illinois  River. 

Drift  —  mixed  clay,  sand, 
gravel,  and  bowlders,  near 
surface  on  uplands. 


o 

to 


rt 

i 

o 

U 


v 

s 


Li 


<u 

£ 


•u 

s 

o 

u 

u 

m 


Carbondale 


Pottsville 


Unconformity 


St.  Louis 


Unconformity 


Salem 


Unconformity 


Warsaw 


Keokuk 


Burlington 


Kinderhook 

Unconformity 

Unconformity 

Hamilton 

Unconformity 


Hoing 
oil  sand 


Unconformity 

Richmond 

(Maquoketa) 

Unconformity 

Kimmswick- 

Plattin 

(Trenton) 


St.  Peter 


Principal  coal-bearing  for¬ 
mation  of  Illinois.  Shales 
and  sandstones  containing 
thin  beds  of  limestone,  clay 
and  coal.  Exposed  from 
coal  No.  2  which  is  the 
base  to  a  few  feet  above 
coal  No.  5,  a  thickness  of 
130-140  feet.  Coal  No.  5 
exists  in  a  small  area  north 
of  Rushville  and  Pleasant 
View.  Entire  formation 
eroded  in  places. 


Includes  beds  from  base  of 
coal  No.  2  to  Mississippian 
limestones.  Sandstone  and 
shale,  and  some  limestone, 
clay,  and  thin  coal.  Lies 
on  old  eroded  land  surface 
and  is  variable  in  thickness. 


Thickness 


Feet 

Variable 


0-75 

Average-25 
In  filled  val- 
levs-100+ 


Limestone,  brecciated,  gen¬ 
erally  blue  but  weathers 
yellow  in  places;  contains 
scattered  corals.  Its  hard¬ 
ness  enables  it  to  withstand 
erosion ;  blocks  ring  when 
struck  with  hammer. 


Impure  limestones  having 
yellow  tint.  In  many  places 
difficult  to  distinguish  from 
limy  sandstone ;  whereas  at 
other  exposures  the  amount 
of  shale  increases  and  the 
formation  is  a  mixture  of 
limy  shales,  limy  sandstone, 
and  very  impure  limestone. 
Very  difficult  to  distinguish 
contact  with  underlying 
Warsaw.  Fossils  scarce. 
Dull  sound  when  stmek 
with  hammer. 


Thin-bedded,  impure  lime¬ 
stone  and  shales,  some  of 
which  are  very  fossilifer- 
ous.  In  some  places  con¬ 
siderable  blue  clay  shale  is 
present.  Bryozoa  abundant 
in  shales ;  Archimedes  in 
limestones. 


Gray  crystalline  limestone, 
very  fossiliferous,  becoming 
shaly  toward  top.  Geodes 
abundant. 


Limestone,  generally  cherty ; 
not  exposed  in  region. 


Shale,  bluish  gray,  limy  in 
places. 


Shale,  light  to  dark ;  con¬ 
tains  many  spores  of  Spor- 
angites,  a  minute  reddish 
fossil. 


Limestone,  gray,  small 
amount  sand,  and  some 
small  crystals  of  pyrite. 
Usually  not  magnesian. 


Limestone,  gray,  crystalline, 
magnesian.  Exists  in  sep¬ 
arate  lenticular  masses ; 
where  it  is  not  present 
Hamilton  rests  on  Maquo¬ 
keta  shale.  Show  of  oil  in 
places  near  base. 


Sandstone,  quartzitic ;  grains 
well  rounded.  In  lenses 
with  no  connection.  Prob¬ 
ably  accumulated  in  depres¬ 
sions  on  Maquoketa  sur¬ 
face.  The  producing  bed 
of  Colmar  field  and  sur¬ 
rounding  territory. 


0-140+ 


0-140 


Shales,  bluish  green;  bluish 
mud  when  drilled. 


Limestone,  gray,  white,  or 
brown.  Very  crystalline  in 
places.  Odor  of  oil  not 
unusual.  Not  magnesian  in 
Colmar  field  and  area  to 
south. 


Sandstone;  generally  satu¬ 
rated  with  highly  mineral¬ 
ized  water. 


0-30+ 


30  ± 


30  ± 


30+ 


100± 


100  ± 


15-30 


0-20 


0-25 
(Average  in 
Colmar  field 
14) 


180-200 


300-400 


145-225 

recorded 


Table  2. — List  of  wells  in  Colchester  and  Macomb  quadrangles 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


47 


(D 

Pd 


ID 

CJ 

rt 

1-4 


"C 

c 

rt 

C/3 


O 

bfl 

£ 

o 

r- 1 

o  ’5 


£ 


o 

o 


rt 

CTy  O 
*+H  u 

O  O 
C4  ^ 

C  c 

>•  rt 
>  in 

2  o 


d 

rt 

l-M 

o 


CD 

£ 


CO  'O 


CD 

a 

«4-» 

<D 

r~l 

^H 

<u 

Ah 


rt 

ID 

H 

s 


TS  rt 

o  " 

<H-4  CM  J_ 

o  c  o 

fc£  fee  rt 

G  C  ^ 

•  pH  •  ^H 

^  ^  — T 

2  2  o 

CO  CO 


LO 


u 

CD 


rt 

£ 


rt 

C/3 


D  <D 
Q-> 


o 

H: 


o 

37 

lo“ 

nO 

m- 

H— y 

rt 

Ui  i_ 

D  D 


H  K. _  _ 

S  ^  ^ 


(X) 

co 


u 

D 


D 

D 


_  o 

~  CO 

G  lo 
rt  1 
LO 
U  »— < 
D  LO 

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cvj 

CM 

CM 

CM 

CVJ 

Elevations  obtained  by  hand  level. 


Table  2. — Continued 


48 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


( f) 

r* 

u 

a 

E 

<L) 

OS 


3DEJ  Jllg 


u 

<u 

E 

3 

c 

"O 

c 

cd 

<u 

E 

cd 

c 


u 

cd 

X, 


O 

On 

uo 

i 

o 

LO 

LO 


ct 

c/3 


O 

<u 

u 

a 

Ih 

H 


<v 

p 

CM 

M-  — < 

-u  'O 
03  CM 


CL) 

o  Jn 

£  <u 
O  d 

|  r- 1 

CO  CO 


<D 


'P 

CM 


i V 

t-* 

<v 


<U 

CO 


LO 

M" 

O 

LO 

U 

<U 

-4—* 

r3 

£ 


CO 


o 

ex 


o 

£ 


>1 

>>22 
rt  ^ 

'O 

^  t /) 
1—  O 

a  u 
^  u 

os  re 

£  ~ 
4-.  LO 

CO 


(•siqq)  uop. 
o.ipojd  [Bipu] 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

Dry 

10 

D  ry 

60 

30 

Prod 

Total 

depth 

•  • 

•  • 

603 

638 

645 

ip 

1050 

678 

P 

630 

519 

449 

452 

453 

456 

457 

pajEjjauad 
pues  JO 
ssauqatqj. 

ship 

61 

ownsh 

wnship 

wnshi 

13 

10 

11 

12 

15 

15 

Elevation 
of  top 
of  sand 

Town 

-18 

65 

ter  T 

62? 

y  To 

-44  ( ?) 

e  To 

51 

57 

66 

80 

87 

88 

85 

Depth  to 
sand 

ethel 

612 

437 

olehes 

540 

ndustr 

659 

amoin 

468 

504 

439 

•  • 

434 

424 

424 

429 

PQ  O  M 

CM  <0 
\0  LO 
LO  LO 


O  M"  <M 

*  ^  a  o 

p>>  LO  LO  LO 


CM 

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>>  o 


LO 

o 


On  lo  ' — 1  LO  M  't  O  O  ,-1  Md- 
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>>  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO 


r-t  (M 

p 

t— H 

y—i 

f— H 

p 

r-H 

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p 

p 

p 

P 

p 

0 

0 

0 

0 

O 

U 

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jp 

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JZ 

bfl 

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T3 

P 

be 

p 

txO 

P 

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0 

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0 

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QJ 

P 

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p 

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s 

pd 

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£  X  rt 
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2  7.  m 
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a  ^  CP  P^H  'tn  K 

”  1 3: 1  < « * 

^  £  V-;  £  d  ffi  ^ 


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jajjBnh  puB 

& 

w 

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£  £ 


1 

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Table  2. — Continued 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


49 


<D 


ro 

ro 

■X 


x> 


Vi 

<D 

4-> 

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> 


?*■> 


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ct5 

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4-» 

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09 

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»  < 

»  « 

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Cw 

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(•siqq)  uop. 
onpojd  jbi  jiuj 


T3  "U  03  'll)  03  03  03 

OOPPPPPPPCM 


CM 


Vi  Vi  Vh  Vh  Vi  Vi  Vi 

Ph  Ph  cl  cl  P— i  Ph  P-t 


03  03 

O  O  LO  p  O  P  O 
T  OO  CM  00  O  CM 
— i  Ph  Ph 


00 


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Vi 

Oh 


Q  ° 


vO 


o  o  o 

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pajB-ijauad 
puBS  jo 
ssouqoiqjL 


.2  qT 

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rTl  O 


<U 

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aoEjjng 


<u 

£ 


cfl 

<u 


rt 

Ph 


OOOOOfO'OuOC'OMMOOOfOCOOCMCMiO 

(MOfOMfOCOfOrorotOfOroCMrOiOiOvOOiO 


O  ro  GO  O  ID 
GO  1  CO  ' — i  CM  1 

LO  VO  Tf  uo  LO  LO 


CO  ro  ON  O  O 

ro  r-1 


Q\  M  O'  00  On  00  00 


\N  \cs 

VHN  m\ 


O  O  On  CM  "rf  ro 
' — i  i— i  i— i  CM  CM  CM 


1-HOONOrOvO’— |Ot-hloCMO<O00O'— I 
OnO\OnOnO\OOOnOnOOOnOnOnO\0\OnO\OOOnOn 


O  ro  T-H  i  Q\ 

*— i  t-h  CM  CM  CM  ^ 


CM  CM  CM  ro  M-  O 
lo  On  On  On  On  On 


HOHOOTfO'HOOOM-CMNfO'MOiOCMfO 
CM  CM  <N1  cm  CM  CM  (M  CM  (M  CM  CM  CM  CM  CM  CM  CM  CM  CM 


lo  N  CM  -- tOOrOrfTj-Tt-TtoCMi^CMfOfOCMT 
lololololololololololololololololololo 


LO  *— i  o  M-  CM  \0 
n  00  NO  N  00  N 
LO  Tf  Xt-  TTf  Hf  M- 


N  O  CM  N  O  O 
vO  Of"  O  K  O 

LO  LO  LO  LO  LO  LO 


OO-r^CMfOTiOON 


CM  ro  oj-  lo 


CM  M"  lo  O 


ro  K  0C  ON  O 


<D 

•  »— t 

c 

c2 

m 

CJ 

r~ < 

O 


<u 

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dn 

u 

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1  (U 

<v 

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P2 

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$  > 

W 

£ 

V  ■ 

h4  £ 

£ 

CP 

< 

a  < 

Name  of  Company 

Ohio  Oil  Co. 

Do. 

J.  E.  Urschel  &  Co. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

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Do. 

Do. 

Snowden  Bros.  &  Co. 

HaMjo-o^  dEj\[ 

jajjBnb  puB 

C/I 

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js 
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o  o  o  o  o  o 
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W  £ 

53  co 


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o 


Table  2. — Continued 


50 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


C/2 

re 


V 

(V 


(•S[qq)  uotj 

-onpoad  [Bijiu j 


On 

■'T 

i 

O 

ON 


Vi 

o 


CO 


C/3  w  J/3 

*o3 

4-» 

C/3 


C/J  C/3  l-J  t/3  C/3  j-*  C/3 

r  j  Cj  ^  flj  Gj  U  O 


C/3 

ID 


Sh 

0/  OC 


^  ^  o 
5  *_»  «« 

Cw  , — , 

c/3  rtf  s- 
O  b 
£ 


U  *0  v-  rvj 

•  *  ;_  Os  Ui  WA  W 5 

C/D  r-  Tf  to 

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r; 


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7  X 


V-  CO 

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rs  v- 


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<o  n  ~  o  r 


CO 


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J_  Vi  Vi  J_,  Vi  Vi  ,_h  Vi  Vi 

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pajBjjauad 
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O  X  -t  (N)  (N)  o  C  X 

00  On  OO  On  On  0C  On  0C 


O  •  M"  <0  M"  O 

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M"  rj-  lo  M"  M-  M" 


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559 

558 

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Table  2. — Continued 


THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


51 


c 

<u 


ro 

On 

CM 

^1" 

On 

4- » 

4— » 

CTj 

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u 

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<v 

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£ 

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c-1 

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re 

C/3  CC 


n->  CC 

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a 


(•S[qq)  uoxj 
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43 

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43 

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THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


53 


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THE  COLMAR  OIL  FIELD 


55 


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' 


THE  ALLENDALE  OIL  FIELD 

By  John  L.  Rich 


(In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey) 


OUTLINE 

PAGE 

Introduction  .  59 

Area  and  location . • .  59 

Acknowledgments  .  59 

History .  59 

Topography  .  61 

Stratigraphy  . • .  61 

Unconsolidated  rocks .  61 

Consolidated  rocks .  63 

Pennsylvanian  series .  63 

Mississippian  series .  64 

Stratigraphic  position  of  oil  sand . • . .  64 

Characteristics  of  the  oil  sand .  64 

Structure  .  65 

Structural  features  of  the  area .  65 

Production  in  relation  to  structure .  66 

Areas  favorable  for  further  drilling .  67 

Possibility  of  further  development  by  deeper  drilling .  67 


(57) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE 

IV  Map  of  Allendale  oil  field  showing  geologic  structure  of  oil  sand .  64 

V  Cross-section  showing  position  of  oil  sand .  66 

VI  Map  showing  initial  and  later  production  of  Allendale  wells .  68 

FIGURE  PAGE 

14.  Map  showing  location  of  Allendale  field .  60 

15.  Graphic  table  showing  wells  completed  by  months  and  number  productive....  62 


TABLES 

FIGURE  PAGE 

3.  Table  showing  monthly  development  of  Allendale  field .  61 


(58) 


INTRODUCTION 
Area  and  Location 

In  August,  1912,  a  successful  well  opened  up  the  Allendale  oil  field 
in  T.  1  N.,  R.  12  W.,  Wabash  County,  Illinois.  The  field  at  present  is 
small,  about  one  and  one-half  miles  long  by  three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide 
lying  in  parts  of  secs.  3,  4,  9,  10,  and  16.  The  principal  producing  area 
lies  in  secs.  4  and  9. 

The  Allendale  field  lies  isolated  about  8  miles  southwest  of  the  newly 
developed  continuation  of  the  Lawrence  County  field  at  St.  Francisville. 
It  is  developed  on  a  minor  north-south  fold  or  dome  lying  upon  the  western 
flanks  of  the  larger  fold  which  gives  rise  to  the  main  Crawford  and  Law¬ 
rence  county  fields.  Allendale,  a  small  village  on  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati, 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis  Railway,  lies  about  2  miles  southeast  of  the  field  and 
is  the  nearest  point  of  supply. 

The  purpose  of  the  recent  investigations  of  this  field  was  to  determine 
the  structure  of  the  field,  its  relation  to  the  nearby  larger  fields,  and  the 
character  and  stratigraphic  position  of  the  producing  sands,  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  possibility  of  further  development  of  the  field,  and  the  location 
of  areas  where  future  prospecting  is  most  likely  to  be  successful. 

Acknowledgments 

The  preparation  of  this  report  has  been  greatly  facilitated  by  the 
kindly  cooperation  of  the  officials  of  the  various  oil  companies  operating  in 
the  Allendale  field.  To  Mr.  J.  K.  Kerr,  general  superintendent,  and  to 
Mr.  Ora  Fess,  local  field  superintendent  of  the  Ohio  Oil  Co. ;  to  Mr.  A.  E. 
Baldwin  and  Mr.  M.  A.  Arvm  of  Snowden  Bros.  &  Co. ;  and  to  Messrs. 
Tyler  Andrews  and  A.  D.  Smith  of  the  Sian  Oil  Co.  especial  acknowledg¬ 
ment  is  due.  Prof.  T.  E.  Savage  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  gave 
helpful  consultation  regarding  questions  of  stratigraphy. 

History 

The  first  successful  well  in  the  Allendale  field  was  drilled  late  in 
July,  1912,  on  the  farm  of  Adam  Biehl  in  the  NE.  cor.  SE.  JJ,  sec.  4. 
This  well  having  an  initial  production  of  650  barrels  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  best  in  the  field  and  created  great  excitement  at  the  time.  A  rush 
followed,  and  within  a  few  months  many  more  wells  had  been  completed. 

The  accompanying  table  presented  graphically  in  figure  15,  shows  the 
number  of  wells  completed  during  each  month  since  the  opening  of  the 
field  and  the  number  of  these  which  were  successful. 


(59) 


60 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Fig.  14.  Map  showing  location  of  Allendale  oil  field. 


THE  ALLENDALE 

OIL  FIELD 

61 

Table  3- 

-Monthly  development  of  Allendale  field 

Wells 

Number  of 

Wells 

Number  of 

Month 

drilled 

producers 

Month 

drilled 

producers 

1912- 

-June  . 

.  .  1 

0 

July  . 

..  3 

3 

July  . 

.  .  0 

0 

August  . . 

..  3 

1 

August  .  . 

.  .  1 

1 

September 

..  0 

0 

September 

. .  4 

2 

October  . . 

. .  2 

1 

October  .  . 

..  14 

12 

November 

. .  2 

2 

November 

..  8 

5 

December 

..  1 

1 

December 

..  8 

3 

1914 — January  .  . 

..  0 

0 

1913- 

-January  .  . 

..  9 

2 

February  . 

..  2 

2 

February  . 

..  2 

1 

March  .  . . 

..  0 

0 

March  .  . . 

. .  4 

2 

April  .  .  .  . 

. .  0 

0 

April  . 

..  1 

1 

Mav  . 

. .  2 

0 

Mav  . 

..  4 

3 

Tune  . 

. .  2 

1 

Tune  . 

.  3 

2 

— 

— 

Total  .  . 

. .  76 

45 

Percentage  of  total  number  productive . 59 


During  the  four  months  from  October,  1912,  to  January,  1913, 
inclusive,  more  than  one-half  the  total  number  of  wells  in  the  field  was 
completed.  As  is  indicated,  a  discouraging  number  of  those  completed 
during  November,  December,  and  January  were  dry  holes  (see  figure  15). 
This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  of  the  wells  drilled  during  the  months 
named,  a  large  proportion  were  put  down  around  the  outside  of  the  produc¬ 
ing  area  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  extent  of  the  field.  These  unsuc¬ 
cessful  wells  showed  clearly  that  the  productive  area  would  be  small.  Since 
January,  1913,  the  number  of  wells  drilled  each  month  has  steadily 
decreased.  Since  February,  1913,  it  has  never  exceeded  four,  and  since 
August  of  that  year  it  has  averaged  only  about  one  a  month.  Since  the 
limits  of  the  field  have  become  fairly  well  known  the  proportion  of  success¬ 
ful  wells  has  increased  to  about  60  per  cent. 

Topography 

The  Allendale  field  is  located  in  a  gently  rolling  area  of  slight  relief 
situated  on  the  southwestern  slope  of  a  group  of  low  hills  about  sixteen 
square  miles  in  extent,  which  rise  somewhat  less  than  100  feet  above 
surrounding  alluvial  lands.  Elevations  range  from  430  to  510  feet  above 
the  sea,  but  all  slopes  are  gentle  and  the  valleys  are  broad  and  open.  The 
irregularities  are  nowhere  sufficiently  great  to  interfere  with  the  hauling 
of  materials  and  supplies,  or  with  the  installation  of  the  apparatus  used  in 
pumping  the  wells. 

STRATIGRAPHY 
Unconsolidated  Rocks 

The  bed  rocks  of  the  region  are  everywhere  concealed  by  a  mantle  of 
unconsolidated  clays,  sands,  and  gravels  known  as  the  glacial  drift,  and 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Fig.  15.  Graphic  table  showing  wells  completed  by  months  and  number  productive. 


THE  ALLENDALE  OIL  FIELD 


63 


by  fine  wind-blown  ‘‘loess”.  This  mantle,  as  revealed  in  the  wells, 
averages  about  45  feet  in  thickness,  but  it  varies  from  about  15  feet  to 
somewhat  more  than  100  feet.  In  general  it  is  thinnest  on  the  higher 
ground  and  thickest  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  broad  flats  which  surround 
the  field.  On  the  uplands  it  consists  of  yellowish,  loess-like  clay  and 
sand,  with  blue  “hardpan”  (glacial  till)  in  places  at  the  base.  The  top 
portion  of  this  yellow  loam  is  loess,  a  fine  dust  which  at  an  earlier  period 
was  deposited  by  the  winds. 

Consolidated  Rocks 

Down  to  the  greatest  depths  reached  by  the  wells  the  underlying 
rocks  of  the  region  belong  to  the  two  divisions  of  the  Carboniferous  sys¬ 
tem :  the  Pennsylvanian  above,  and  the  Mississippian  below.  About  1300 
feet  of  the  Pennsylvanian  rocks  has  been  encountered,  but  only  the  upper 
part  of  the  Mississippian  series  has  been  penetrated. 

PENNSYLVANIAN  SERIES 

The  Pennsylvanian  rocks  consist  of  a  series  of  shales  alternating  with 
sandstones  and  occasional  thin  lenses  of  limestone.  The  latter,  however, 
comprise  only  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  section.  The  sandstones  and 
shales  occur  in  beds  of  varying  thickness  ranging  from  only  a  few  feet 
to  200  feet  or  more. 

The  Pennsylvanian  series  in  this  State  is  commonly  separated  into 
three  formations :  the  McLeansboro  at  the  top,  extending  down  to  the  top 
of  coal  No.  6;  the  Carbondale,  including  the  strata  from  the  top  of  coal 
No.  6  to  the  base  of  coal  No.  2 ;  and  the  Pottsville,  extending  from  the  latter 
to  the  base  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series.  From  the  records  of  the  wells  in 
the  Allendale  field  it  is  impossible  to  draw  any  sharp  lines  of  distinction 
between  these  three  formations.  The  horizon  of  coal  No.  6  may  be 
recognized  in  a  general  way  at  500  to  600  feet  below  the  surface,  but 
the  horizon  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  cannot  be  so  definitely 
distinguished. 

The  most  noteworthy  feature  of  the  Pennsylvanian  rocks  is  their 
variability  both  horizontally  and  vertically.  Lenses  of  sandstone  more 
than  50  feet  thick  in  one  well  may  be  absent  in  nearby  wells.  In  fact,  so 
great  is  the  variability  of  these  beds  that  no  close  correlations  between 
them  can  be  made. 

A  few  beds  are  fairly  persistent  and  may  be  recognized  in  a  large 
proportion  of  the  logs.  In  almost  all  the  wells  a  water-bearing  sandstone 
is  found  at  100  to  200  feet  below  the  surface.  Another  water-bearing 
sand,  occasionally  appearing  as  two  sands  a  short  distance  apart,  is  usually 
found  at  about  600  feet.  This,  however,  is  not  sufficiently  persistent  to 
be  recognizable  in  all  the  wells,  nor  sufficiently  definite  in  its  position 


64 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


to  serve  as  a  basis  for  contouring.  At  the  base  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series 
is  a  massive  white  sandstone  (Pottsville)  which  averages  about  150  feet 
in  thickness  and  may  be  recognized  in  nearly  every  well.  This,  the  most 
easily  identifiable  bed  in  the  whole  series,  is  correlated  with  the  Buchanan 
sand  of  the  Lawrence  County  field. 

In  addition  to  the  sands,  one  or  more  beds  of  coal  are  recorded  in 
several  of  the  logs.  One  of  these  coals,  lying  between  500  and  600  feet 
below  the  surface,  is  thought  to  represent  coal  No.  6  (Herrin  or  Belleville). 
However,  the  records  are  too  few  in  number,  and  they  lack  sufficient 
agreement  to  make  this  correlation  certain. 

MISSISSIPPI  AN  SERIES 

Beneath  the  heavy  sandstone  at  the  base  of  the  Pottsville  lies  a  series 
of  thin  limestones  and  shales  with  occasional  thin  beds  of  sandstone,  the 
latter  increasing  in  thickness  and  importance  toward  the  base  of  the 
section  penetrated  by  the  wells.  This  is  the  Chester  group.  The  exact 
thickness  of  the  Chester  in  the  Allendale  field  is  uncertain,  but  is  at  least 
700  feet,  since  two  wells  on  land  of  John  H.  Schafer  and  C.  F.  Adams 
have  penetrated  Chester  strata  to  that  depth  without  having  reached  its 
base.  Several  thin  beds  of  red  shale  mark  the  lower  part  of  the  formation 
in  nearby  fields.  These  were  found  in  both  of  the  deep  wells  mentioned ; 
in  one  at  a  depth  between  1915  and  1950  feet;  in  the  other  between  1830 
and  1910  feet,  indicating  that  the  bottoms  of  the  wells  at  about  2000  feet 
must  be  near  the  base  of  the  Chester. 

Stratigraphic  Position  of  the  Oil  Sand 

The  producing  sand  in  the  Allendale  field,  commonly  known  as  the 
Biehl  sand  from  the  farm  on  which  the  oil  was  first  struck,  lies  about 
190  feet  below  the  top  of  the  Chester.  This  interval  varies  between  130 
and  250  feet,  probably  on  account  of  the  uneven  upper  surface  of  the 
Chester,  which  was  irregularly  eroded  before  the  Pottsville  formation  was 
deposited  above  it.  From  its  stratigraphic  position  it  appears  that  the 
Biehl  sand  should  be  correlated  with  the  Kirkwood  sand  of  the  Lawrence 
County  field. 

No  oil  has  been  reported  from  any  of  the  sands  in  the  Pottsville, 
or  in  the  Chester  below  the  general  level  of  the  Biehl  sand.  There  is, 
however,  evidence  that  a  few  of  the  wells  on  the  borders  of  the  field 
secure  their  oil  from  sands  a  few  feet  lower  than  the  Biehl  sand.  Such 
lower  sands  seem  to  be  local  lenses  which  carry  the  oil  in  places  where 
the  regular  sand  is  not  present. 

Characteristics  of  the  Oil  Sand 

The  oil  appears  to  have  accumulated  in  a  single  bed  of  sandstone 
in  all  parts  of  the  field  except  at  the  few  wells  mentioned  immediately 


: 

; 


SURVEYED  IN  COOPERATION  WITH 
V.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 
GEORGE  OTIS  SMITH,  DIRECTOR 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

GOVERNOR  E.  F.  DUNNE,  T.  C.  CHAMBERLIN,  E  T.  JAMES,  COMMISSIONERS 
FRANK  W.  DE  WOLF,  DIRECTOR 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  IV 


IY..L  Andrews 


D.  S.Ravatt 


C.Hershey 


2  Oil  well  with  farm 
•  number  ami  surface 
455  elevation. 


Contour  showing  pos- 
I  ition  of  oil  sand 
/above  a  plane  1S00 
*  feet  below  sea  level, 
o  Contour  interval  10 
O  feet. 


Map  of  Allendale  oil  field  showing  structure  contours  on  producing  oil  sand 
by  John  L.  Rich 


THE  ALLENDALE  OIL  FIELD 


65 


above  where,  because  of  the  irregularity  in  depth  at  which  the  oil  was 
reported,  it  appears  that  it  must  be  in  beds  or  lenses  slightly  lower  in 
the  series.  The  principal  wells  showing  this  discrepancy  are  W.  II.  Arm¬ 
strong  No.  3  and  C.  Smith  No.  9,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  field. 

In  most  of  the  wells  the  oil  sand  varies  from  20  to  30  feet  in  thickness, 
but  a  maximum  of  at  least  40  feet  is  known.  A  marked  local  thinning  of 
the  sand  was  disclosed  in  the  wells  near  the  NE.  ^4  NW.  J4  sec.  9. 

The  sand  is  described  as  brown  or  light  brown,  the  color  probably 
being  due  merely  to  oil  stain.  It  is  usually  soft,  though  in  a  few  wells 
it  is  reported  as  hard.  Wells  in  sand  of  the  latter  type  yielded  only  small 
quantities  of  oil,  even  though  located  where  the  structure  is  favorable. 

In  most  of  the  field  the  oil  sand  is  overlain  by  a  bed  of  limestone  20 
to  30  feet  thick ;  however,  in  McMillen  Nos.  6,  7,  and  8,  in  the  NW.  J4 
SE.  14  sec.  9,  shale  forms  the  cap  rock. 

STRUCTURE 

Structural  Features  of  the  Area 

The  structure  or  the  “lay"  of  the  oil  sand  is  represented  on  the 
map  (Plate  IV)  by  means  of  contours  drawn  on  the  top  of  the  Biehl 
sand.  These  contours,  which  are  drawn  for  every  10  feet  represent  the 
elevation  of  the  top  of  the  sand  above  a  plane  1500  feet  below  sea  level. 
Each  contour  connects  points  on  this  sand  having  the  same  elevation 
above  this  datum  plane. 

The  depth  of  the  top  of  the  sand  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  in 
each  well  may  be  found  by  subtracting  the  number  of  the  contour  passing 
through  the  well  from  1500  and  then  adding  the  elevation  of  the  well 
above  sea  level.  Thus  if  a  certain  well  is  on  the  490-foot  contour  and  the 
elevation  of  its  mouth  is  468  feet,  then  1500 — 490=-=  1010,  1010— (-468 
gives  1478  as  the  depth  of  the  top  of  the  oil  sand  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground. 

The  map  shows  that  the  Allendale  field  is  located  on  the  top  of  a 
distinct  arch  or  dome,  the  main  axis  of  which  extends  in  a  north  and  south 
direction,  and  that  from  the  top  of  this  elevated  area  the  rocks  dip  away 
in  all  directions.  Closer  examination  reveals  certain  minor  features  of 
the  structure  of  the  arch  which  deserve  special  mention  since  they  play 
a  large  part  in  determining  the  detailed  distribution  of  the  oil. 

Along  the  eastern  side  of  the  arch,  and  forming  its  crest,  is  a  prom¬ 
inent  anticline,  broad  in  the  middle  and  narrowing  at  both  ends,  which 
extends  north  and  south  through  the  eastern  parts  of  secs.  4  and  9.  The 
western  limit  of  the  higher  parts  of  the  arch  is  marked  by  a  smaller,  less 
distinct  fold  extending  from  near  the  center  of  sec.  9  northward  to  the 

John  Prout  well  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  SE.  Y\  SW.  Ct  sec.  4.  Be- 
5— B— 31 


66 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


tween  these  two  bounding  ridges  is  a  broad,  flat  area  diversified  by  a 
few  small  hollows  or  synclines. 

The  broadest  portion  of  the  eastern  anticline  lies  just  west  of  McFar¬ 
land  School  in  the  NE.  corner  of  sec.  9  and  the  SE.  corner  of  sec.  4. 
From  here  the  anticline  narrows  rapidly  toward  the  north,  and  at  the 
J.  Biehl  well  in  the  NE.  Fi  SE.  Ft  sec.  4  it  is  a  sharp  ridge.  To  the  south 
the  crest  becomes  narrow  in  the  SE.  Ft  NE.  Ft  sec.  9,  but  farther  south 
on  the  Caroline  Smith  farm,  it  widens  into  a  small,  elongate  dome  which 
for  convenience  may  be  designated  the  Caroline  Smith  dome. 

The  secondary  anticline  in  the  western  part  of  the  field  is  not  well 
developed,  though  it  gains  sufficient  prominence  to  appear  upon  the  con¬ 
tour  map  and  to  affect  materially  the  production  of  the  wells  located  in 
its  vicinity.  Its  top  is  about  25  feet  lower  than  that  of  the  eastern  anti¬ 
cline.  As  already  indicated,  it  marks  the  western  limit  of  the  elevated 
area.  On  its  western  flanks  the  beds  dip  steeply  to  the  west. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  field  there  appears  to  be  a  minor  ridge 
extending  through  the  W.  H.  Armstrong  farm  and  northward  to  include 
wells  No.  7  and  No.  8  on  the  McMillen  farm.  This  elevated  area  is 
separated  from  the  Caroline  Smith  dome  by  a  shallow  trough  or  syncline 
(see  Plate  Y). 

Another  structural  feature  which  deserves  mention  is  the  small  ter¬ 
race  in  the  western  part  of  the  SE.  Ft  sec.  4  upon  which  are  located  the 
four  wells  Wrn.  Wolf,  H.  Jones  No.  1,  and  Elisha  Litherland  Nos.  1  and 
2.  This  is  a  relatively  inconspicuous  feature,  yet  its  effect  is  very  evident 
in  the  production  records  of  the  wells  located  upon  it. 

Production  Records  in  Relation  to  Structure 

The  accompanying  map  (Plate  YI )  shows  the  initial  and  the  present 
(July  1,  1914)  production  of  each  of  the  wells  from  which  data  could 
be  secured.  A  study  of  these  records  in  relation  to  structure  yields 
strong  confirmation  of  the  theory  that  oil  tends  to  accumulate  at  or  near 
the  crests  of  anticlines  or  domes  or  on  local  flattenings  (terraces)  in 
dipping  rocks.  From  the  map  it  is  evident  that  only  the  wells  situated 
upon  the  crest  or  high  on  the  sides  of  the  elevated  tract  were  productive. 
The  most  conspicuous  features  brought  out  by  this  map  are:  (1)  the  uni¬ 
formly  high  initial  yield  of  the  wells  situated  upon  the  higher  parts  of  the 
main  anticline  and  of  the  Caroline  Smith  dome;  (2)  the  good  yields  of  the 
four  wells  situated  upon  the  Jones-Prout-Litherland  terrace;1  (3)  the 
relatively  high  yields  of  the  wells  (Edwin  Smith,  Nos.  1  and  3,  and  H. 
Mulinax  No.  1 )  situated  on  the  crest  of  the  western  anticline ;  and 
(4)  the  relatively  low  yields  of  wells  situated  on  local  depressions. 


1A  letter  dated  Dee.  3,  1914  states  that  wells  J.  B.  Litherland  Nos.  1  and  2  have  declined 
considerably  within  the  past  two  months. 


LLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


V 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  V 


1  Della  V  Wright  No.2  Wabash  Twp..Sec.9,T.1  N.R.12  W. 

~  Della  V. Wright  No.1  Wabash  Twp.,Sec.9.T.  1  N.R.12  W. 

3  McMillen  Farm  No.6  S.E.  1 /4  N.E.  1/4  ,  Sec.9 ,T.  1  N..R.12W. 

4  Caroline  Smith  No.2  Wabash  Twp.,  Sec.9, T.1  N..R.12  W. 

O  Caroline  Smith  No.1  Wabash  Twp., Sec.9, T.1  N.R.12  W. 

6  H. Buchanan  No.1  N.W.Cor..S.W.1/4.Sec.10.Wabash  Twp. 

East-west  cross-9ection  through  Allendale  field  showing  position  of  oil  sand 

The  thick  limestones  shown  in  the  lower  part  of  the  coal-bearing  rocks  in  3  and 
5  were  probably  incorrectly  reported  by  the  driller.  They  should  probably  be  shown 
as  sandstone  or  sandy  shale. 


THE  ALLENDALE  OIL  FIELD 


67 


In  some  wells  the  production  reported  is  much  smaller  than  would 
be  expected  from  the  structure;  for  instance,  Caroline  Smith  No.  1  started 
with  480  barrels  per  day;  whereas  No.  11,  apparently  as  favorably  located, 
gave  an  initial  output  of  only  65  barrels.  The  decrease  is  better  understood 
when  the  date  of  drilling  is  considered.  Well  No.  1  was  completed  in  Sept. 
1912;  No.  11  in  August, .  1913.  In  the  meantime  the  pressure  upon  the 
oil  in  the  pool  must  have  been  notably  decreased  by  the  drawing  off  of 
oil  to  No.  1  and  several  other  wells  nearby,  most  of  them  at  lower  levels. 
Similarly,  Ed.  Smith  Nos.  1  and  4,  the  one  apparently  as  favorably  situated 
as  the  other,  show  a  marked  difference  in  initial  production,  and  here 
again  the  earlier  well  gave  the  higher  yield. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  variations  in  the  porosity  of  the  sands 
account  for  some  of  the  discrepancies  observed.  Certain  of  the  records 
of  the  wells  in  the  Caroline  Smith  dome  seem  to  show  that  the  oil 
sand  was  not  saturated  entirely  to  the  top.  A  study  of  this  feature  in 
connection  with  the  structure  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  phenomenon 
is  to  be  explained  by  variations  in  the  porosity  of  the  sand,  the  top  portion 
in  some  of  the  wells  being  too  compact  to  permit  the  accumulation  of  oil. 

Gas  in  small  quantities  was  reported  from  Caroline  Smith  Nos.  1,  2, 
4,  and  8,  but  no  definite  relation  between  the  occurrence  of  the  gas  and 
the  structure  or  other  features  could  be  discerned. 

AREAS  FAVORABLE  FOR  FURTHER  DRILLING 

On  the  map  (Plate  VI)  the  areas  in  which  the  structure  seems  most 
favorable  for  further  drilling  are  indicated  by  cross-line  shading.  For  the 
most  part  these  areas  lie  within  the  limits  of  the  field  as  already  outlined. 
The  area  indicated  in  the  NE.  Rj  NW.  Rj  sec.  9  seems  worthy  of  testing 
by  a  hole  placed  about  one  location  south  of  the  road  and  a  short  distance 
west  of  north  of  H.  Mulinax  No.  1.  One  or  more  wells  in  the  McMillen 
tract  ought  to  pay.  A  considerable  area  of  favorable  territory  is  included 
in  the  Ed  Smith  and  Jacob  Smith  farms.  This  territory  is  not  likely 
to  furnish  high  yields,  but  a  moderate  production  may  be  expected.  An¬ 
other  area  which  seems  favorable  includes  parts  of  the  Jo.  Jordan.  Jacob 
Smith  and  Adam  Biehl  farms. 

POSSIBILITY  OF  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  BY  DEEPER 

DRILLING 

Considering  the  success  of  the  deep  wells  in  the  McClosky  sand  in  the 
vicinity  of  St.  Francisville,  it  would  seem  worth  while  to  test  this  sand 
in  the  Allendale  field.  Thus  far  no  wells  within  the  producing  area  of 
the  field  have  gone  sufficiently  deep  to  reach  the  McClosky.  Two  wells — 
the  John  H.  Schafer  and  the  C.  F.  Adams — have  penetrated  to  a  depth 


68 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


somewhat  over  2000  feet,  but  appear  not  to  have  reached  the  McClosky. 
Besides,  these  wells  are  not  located  upon  the  higher  structures,  so  that, 
even  had  they  gone  deeper,  it  is  doubtful  if  they  would  have  been  suc¬ 
cessful. 

The  Chester  is  thicker  in  this  region  than  in  the  Lawrence  County 
field;  consequently,  the  depth  to  the  McClosky  is  greater.  It  is  thought 
that  the  McClosky  should  be  reached  at  about  600  feet  below  the  Biehl 
sand,  which  would  mean  for  most  of  the  field  a  depth  of  2100  to  2200 
feet  below  the  surface,  though  it  is  possible  that  the  depth  might  be 
slightly  greater. 

Should  a  successful  well  be  drilled  to  the  McClosky  sand,  further 
development  should  proceed  cautiously  upon  the  higher  parts  of  the  struc¬ 
ture  as  indicated  on  the  map  (Plate  AT).  There  are  no  indications  that 
wildcatting  outside  this  area  would  meet  with  success. 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  VI 


Oil  well  with  initial  production 
(bbls.)  shown  in  black  and  lat¬ 
er  production  shown  in  red 

Dry  hole 

Coatour  showing  position  of  oil  sand 
above  a  plane  1 500  feet  below  sea 
level 


Areas  favorable  for  drilling 


Arrows  point  to  wells  for 
which  aggregate  produc¬ 
tion  is  given 


0  1/4 

1 .  1 


Scale 

1/2 

L, 


3/4 


I 


Mile 


Map  showing  initial  and  later  production  of  Allendale  wells 


. 


ANTICLINAL  STRUCTURE  IN  RANDOLPH 

COUNTY 

By  Stuart  Weller 


(In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey) 


The  association  of  petroleum  with  anticlinal  structure  in  the  rock 
strata  has  been  so  well  established  that  the  recognition  of  such  folds  is 
of  prime  importance  to  the  oil  driller.  During  the  detailed  mapping  of 
the  Chester  quadrangle  comprising  a  portion  of  Randolph  County  a  small 
anticline  which  may  be  productive  of  oil  if  properly  drilled  has  been 
recognized.  This  anticline  is  just  north  of  Bremen  about  eight  miles 
northeast  of  Chester.  The  axis  of  the  anticline,  as  located  on  the  accom¬ 
panying  map,  extends  N.  70° E.  and  very  nearly  intersects  the  corner  be¬ 
tween  secs.  21,  22,  27,  and  28,  T.  6  S.,  R.  6  W.  On  its  northern  limb 
the  rocks  dip  at  angles  from  7  to  10  degrees ;  whereas  the  dip  of  the 
southern  limb  is  about  2  degrees.  The  folding  of  the  rock  has  not  been 
detected  west  of  Little  Marys  River  and  the  dipping  strata  are  best 
exposed  in  the  east  tributaries  of  this  stream.  The  extension  of  the  fold 
to  the  northeast  has  not  been  determined  because  the  detailed  mapping 
has  not  been  extended  in  that  direction,  but  it  is  altogether  probable  that 
the  structure  becomes  more  pronounced. 

The  rock  formations  involved  in  the  Bremen  anticline  are  of  the 
Chester  group  and  the  base  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series.  The  entire 
thickness  of  the  Chester  group,  as  developed  in  Randolph  County,  is 
present  in  this  area.  In  the  eastern  Illinois  field  much  of  the  oil  is  pro¬ 
duced  from  the  sands  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  Chester  group,  probably 
the  Renault  formation,  which  would  be  penetrated  at  Bremen  at  a  depth 
of  500  to  600  feet.  The  comparatively  shallow  depth  of  the  possible  oil 
sands  in  the  Bremen  anticline  makes  prospecting  in  the  territory  desirable. 


(69) 


70 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Fig.  16.  Map  showing  location  of  Bremen  anticline. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  THE  GILLESPIE  AND  MX. 
OLIVE  QUADRANGLES,  ILLINOIS 

By  Wallace  Lee 


(IJ.  S.  Geological  Survey  in  cooperation  with  the  Illinois  State  Geological  Survey) 


OUTLINE 


PAGE 


Introduction . .  73 

Acknowledgments  .  73 

Area  treated  in  report .  73 

Drainage  and  topography .  74 

Stratigraphy  .  74 

Cambrian  and  Ordovician  rocks .  74 

Silurian  and  Devonian  rocks .  75 

Mississippian  series . • .  75 

Pennsylvanian  series .  76 

General  statement .  76 

Pottsville  formation .  77 

Carbondale  formation .  77 

McLeansboro  formation .  81 

Quaternary  deposits .  85 

Structure  .  85 

Structure  contours . • .  85 

Structure  of  the  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles .  86 

Litchfield  oil  and  gas  field .  87 

Carlinville  oil  and  gas  field .  91 

General  relations  of  oil  to  structure  and  stratigraphy .  99 

Anticlinal  areas  favorable  to  retention  of  oil  and  gas .  101 

Staunton  dome . • . i .  101 

Spanish  Needle  Creek  dome .  102 

South  Litchfield  dome .  103 

Butler  anticline .  103 

Macoupin  dome . • . • .  104 

Sorento  anticline . • .  105 

Other  possible  areas .  105 

Local  presence  of  gas .  105 

“Kerosene”  spring .  106 


(71) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE  PAGE 

VII  Graphic  sections  of  Litchfield  wells .  88 

VIII  Graphic  sections  of  Carlinville  wells .  92 


IX  Map  showing  topography  and  geologic  structure  of  the  Gillespie  quadrangle  100 
X  Map  showing  topography  and  geologic  structure  of  the  Mt.  Olive  quadrangle  102 

FIGURE 

17.  Map  showing  location  of  wells  in  Litchfield  pool,  and  order  of  arrangement 


of  logs  in  Plate  VII .  89 

18.  Map  showing  structure  contours  on  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  and  on  top  of  oil 

sand  in  Carlinville  pool .  92 

19.  Map  showing  location  of  wells  in  Carlinville  pool  and  order  of  arrangement 

of  wells  in  Plate  VIII .  96 

20.  Ideal  section  through  a  dome  showing  sand-filled  channels  in  cross-section. 

points  of  accumulation  of  oil  and  gas,  and  direction  of  migration .  98 


(72) 


INTRODUCTION 

Acknowledgments 

The  area  of  which  this  report  treats  lies  in  Macoupin,  Montgomery, 
and  Bond  counties  and  was  included  in  the  region  recently  discussed  by 
R.  S.  Blatchley1.  However,  Mr.  Blatchley’s  report  was  somewhat  pre¬ 
liminary  in  nature.  Since  it  was  published,  the  work  on  which  the  present 
report  is  based  was  undertaken  by  the  State  Survey  in  cooperation  with 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey  under  considerably  more  advantageous 
circumstances.  Topographic  maps  prepared  under  the  same  cooperative 
agreement  made  it  possible  to  determine  altitudes  of  the  tops  of  wells 
much  more  accurately.  A  considerable  number  of  new  drill  records  have 
also  been  secured,  and  the  rock  outcrops  have  been  examined,  such  data 
giving  a  much  greater  number  of  points  than  was  available  for  the  de¬ 
termination  of  the  structure  of  the  rocks  at  the  time  Bulletin  28  was 
written.  The  present  report  though  having  these  advantages  over  previous 
work  still  lacks  detail  in  parts  of  the  area  where  neither  outcrops  nor  well 
logs  are  available. 

The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  assistance  given 
by  the  Superior  Coal  Company  in  the  persons  of  Messrs.  John  Reese  and 
John  Ross  of  Gillespie ;  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Crawford  of  Hillsboro,  Mr.  E.  J. 
Hurd  of  Chicago,  Messrs.  David  Davis  and  H.  Hood  of  Litchfield,  Mr. 
Frank  Brown  of  Hillsboro  and  Messrs.  E.  A.  Ibbetson  and  T.  A.  Rinaker 
of  Carlinville,  and  many  others  to  whose  generous  cooperation  in  allowing 
the  use  of  private  information  and  to  whose  public-spirited  attitude  toward 
the  work,  the  writer  owes  to  a  considerable  extent  the  value  of  this  report. 

Area  Treated  in  Report 

The  area  examined  comprises  the  Gillespie  and  Mt.  Olive  quad¬ 
rangles  mapped  topographically  by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
in  cooperation  with  the  Illinois  State  Geological  Survey,  an  area  27  miles 
from  east  to  west  and  17  miles  from  north  to  south.  It  includes  the 
southeastern  part  of  Macoupin  County,  the  southwestern  part  of  Mont¬ 
gomery,  and  a  small  area  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  Bond  County. 
The  area  extends  from  a  point  two  miles  south  of  Carlinville  to  Staunton 
and  Sorento  on  the  south,  and  from  Hillsboro  on  the  eastern  margin  to 
Plainview  and  Bunker  Hill  near  the  western  edge.  The  district  includes 
also  the  towns  of  Litchfield,  Mt.  Olive,  Gillespie,  and  Benld  and  the  villages 
of  Dorchester,  Hornsby,  Butler,  Walshville,  and  Panama. 


1Blatchley,  R.  S.,  Oil  and  gas  in  Bond,  Macoupin,  and  Montgomery  counties:  Ill.  Geol. 
Survey,  Bull.  28,  1914. 


(73) 


74 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Drainage  and  Topography 

Macoupin  Creek,  flowing  in  a  general  westerly  direction  into  Illinois 
River,  drains  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  area.  Shoal  Creek  with  its 
tributaries  drains  the  eastern  half  of  the  district  and  flows  south  into 
Kaskaskia  River.  The  southwestern  quarter  is  drained  by  the  head  waters 
of  Wood  River  and  Cahokia  Creek,  which  flow  southwest  and  empty 
directly  into  Mississippi  River.  The  forked  divide  between  these  creeks 
is  a  broad,  flat,  undissected  prairie  rising  imperceptibly  toward  the 
northeast.  Near  Bunker  Hill  the  altitude  is  660  feet  above  sea  level, 
whereas  20  miles  distant  at  Litchfield,  it  is  only  20  feet  greater.  East 
of  Shoal  Creek  the  prairie  surface  is  broken  by  morainic  hills  left  by 
a  continental  glacier.  Several  of  these  hills  rise  more  than  75  feet  above 
the  general  level.  The  valleys  are  incised  in  the  flat  prairie  surface  and 
have  rather  steep  confining  slopes.  The  major  streams  have  cut  to  a 
depth  of  75  to  85  feet  below  the  upland  prairie  level. 

STRATIGRAPHY 

The  rocks  of  southern  Illinois  consist  of  nearly  horizontal  layers 
of  shale,  sandstone,  limestone,  and  coal  which  will  be  described  in  order 
from  the  lowest  and  oldest  to  the  highest  and  youngest.  In  southern  Illi¬ 
nois  the  older  rocks  do  not  outcrop  at  the  surface  and  are  known  only 
from  drill  holes  and  from  outcrops  in  adjoining  states.  They  form  a 
series  of  sandstone,  limestone,  and  shale  beds  resting  on  an  irregular,  and 
exceedingly  ancient  surface  composed  of  granite  and  allied  rocks.  The 
rocks  above  this  old  surface  are  more  or  less  perfectly  known  in  adjoining 
regions  where  they  are  exposed  and  where  they  have  been  examined  and 
described.  Their  thickness  and  their  lithologic  character,  however,  vary 
from  place  to  place,  so  that  whereas  their  presence  may  often  be  predicted 
where  they  are  not  exposed,  the  exact  thickness  and  relation  of  the 
beds  to  each  other  can  not  be  known  with  certainty  at  places  far  from  the 
outcrops  in  anticipation  of  drilling. 

Cambrian  and  Ordovician  Rocks 

The  basal  granitic  rocks  which  are  pre-Cambrian  in  age  have  never 
been  penetrated  in  central  Illinois.  The  deepest  well  in  the  area,  the  Mark 
Flitz  well,  drilled  by  the  Producers  Oil  Company  on  the  flood  plain  of 
Long  Branch  in  sec.  7,  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.,  is  3770  feet  deep.  At  a  depth 
of  2685  feet  the  boring  passed  into  a  limestone  which  is  thought  to  be 
the  top  of  a  series  of  Cambrian  and  Ordovician  rocks  which  overlie  the 
granite  and  underlie  the  St.  Peter  sandstone.  Only  85  feet  of  the  limestone 
series  was  penetrated  in  this  well,  but  in  southwestern  Missouri  where 
the  rocks  outcrop  at  the  surface  the  rocks  underlying  the  St.  Peter  sand¬ 
stone  consist  of  2100  feet  or  more  of  magnesian  limestone  containing  sev- 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


/0 

eral  thin  sandstone  beds,  a  thick  sandstone  bed  of  irregular  development 
usually  resting  on  the  rough  surface  of  the  granite  rocks  beneath  the 
magnesian  limestone  series. 

The  St.  Peter  sandstone2,  known  widely  as  a  source  of  artesian  water, 
was  penterated  at  a  depth  of  2570  feet  and  is  115  feet  thick;  but  here,  as 
well  as  at  other  points  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  the  water  is  very 
salty  and  quite  unfit  for  domestic  use.  The  Kimmswick  and  Plattin  lime¬ 
stones  overlie  the  St.  Peter.  They  have  a  combined  thickness  of  808  feet 
and  include  195  feet  of  shale  115  feet  above  the  base  and  a  35-foot  bed 
of  sandstone  48  feet  below  the  top.  The  Maquoketa  shale,  which  overlies 
the  Kimmswick  and  Plattin  limestones,  is  120  feet  thick  with  12  feet  of 
limestone  35  feet  above  the  base. 

Silurian  and  Devonian  Rocks 

The  Silurian  system  is  thought  by  T.  E.  Savage  to  be  represented  by 
24  feet  of  limestone  referred  by  him  to  what  he  calls  the  Alexandrian 
series,  in  which  he  includes  the  Cape  Girardeau  limestone.  The  Devonian 
is  apparently  absent,  though  the  overlying  shales  may  include  deposits  of 
this  age. 


Mississippian  Series 

The  Mississippian  series  of  the  Carboniferous  system  as  represented 
in  the  Mark  Flitz  well  consists  of  348  feet  of  shale  at  the  base,  which  is 
mostly  Kinderhook,  though  possibly  some  Devonian  strata  are  included ; 
and  of  530  feet  of  limestone  of  the  Osage  and  Meramec  groups  at  the  top. 
In  this  well  105  feet  of  sand  is  reported  at  the  base  of  this  limestone  series. 
Sand  is  not  known  elsewhere  at  this  horizon  and  the  accuracy  of  the  log 
is  questioned.  This  is  overlain  by  125  feet  of  limestone  succeeded  by  15 
feet  of  sandstone  and  285  feet  of  limestone  representing  the  Burlington, 
Keokuk,  Warsaw,  Spergen,  and  St.  Louis  limestones  of  the  Osage  and 
Meramec  groups.  The  top  of  the  limestone  series  is  believed  to  be  the 
St.  Louis  limestone. 

The  Chester  group,  which  contains  the  oil-bearing  sands  of  the  Carlyle 
field,  if  present  at  all  at  this  point  has  very  slight  development,  and  the 
beds  are  not  distinguishable  in  the  log.  At  the  close  of  Mississippian  time 
the  rocks  appear  to  have  suffered  some  deformation  and  very  considerable 
erosion,  so  that  the  surface  was  underlain  at  some  points  by  beds  which 
had  elsewhere  been  cut  away.  Five  or  six  miles  south  of  the  Mark  Flitz 
well  some  of  the  Chester  beds  appear  to  have  been  preserved.  Fifty  to 
seventy-five  feet  of  sandy  beds,  beginning  with  red  shale  is  reported  here 
in  several  wells;  but  in  a  deep  well  north  of  Nokomis,  16  miles  northeast  of 

2The  log  of  this  well  was  interpreted  by  T.  E.  Savage  and  R.  S.  Blatchley  in  Bull.  28,  Ill. 
Geol.  Survey,  pp.  20,  21. 


76 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Hillsboro,  over  250  feet  of  Chester  beds,  consisting  chiefly  of  green,  white, 
gray,  and  red  shales  was  penetrated. 

Pennsylvanian  Series 

GENERAL  STATEMENT 

The  Pennsylvanian  series  has  been  divided  into  three  formations,  the 
Pottsville  extending  from  the  base  of  the  coal-bearing  rocks  to  the  base 
of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal;  the  Carbondale  comprising  all  strata 
from  the  base  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  to  the  top  of  the  Herrin 
(No.  6)  coal;  and  the  McLeansboro  including  all  beds  from  the  Herrin 
(No.  6)  coal  to  the  top  of  the  “Coal  Measures.” 

The  Pottsville  rests  on  the  old  eroded  surface  of  the  Mississippian 
rocks  and  is  overlain  conformably  by  the  Carbondale  formation,  which 
is  composed  chiefly  of  shale,  sandy  shale,  sandstone,  and  several  widely 
worked  and  valuable  coal  beds.  In  fact,  the  Carbondale  formation  con¬ 
tains  most  of  the  coal  beds  mined  in  Illinois,  the  coals  of  the  other  two 
formations  rarely  being  found  sufficiently  thick  for  profitable  exploitation. 
The  Carbondale  formation  is  overlain  by  the  McLeansboro  formation, 
composed  of  shales,  sandy  shales,  thin  coal  beds,  and  several  conspicuous 
limestone  members. 

The  identity  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  in  the  Gillespie-Mt. 
Olive  quadrangles  has  been  determined  by  faunal  and  stratigraphic  evidence. 
Fossil  plants  associated  with  the  coal  as  determined  by  David  \Yhite:: 
indicate  that  the  coal  worked  in  the  Litchfield  mine  is  not  far  below  the 
top  of  the  Pottsville  formation.  Comparison  of  the  logs  of  wells  in  Jackson 
County  to  the  south  and  La  Salle  County  to  the  north,  where  the  Murphys¬ 
boro  (No.  2)  coal  has  been  worked,  with  the  logs  of  wells  in  this  area  and 
at  intervening  points,  indicates  the  fifth  of  a  series  of  six  coal  horizons 
below  the  top  of  the  Carbondale  formation  as  that  of  the  [Murphysboro 
or  No.  2  coal.  This  is  the  next  coal  above  that  wrorked  in  the  recently 
abandoned  Litchfield  shaft  and  the  stratigraphic  correlation  is  therefore 
consistent  with  the  paleontologic  evidence. 

The  Herrin  or  No.  6  coal,  whose  top  is  the  dividing  line  between  the 
[McLeansboro  and  Carbondale  formations,  is  a  thick  coal  underlying  a 
persistent  limestone  horizon  in  the  lower  McLeansboro  formation  known 
for  the  presence  in  it  of  a  small  fossil,  Girtyina  ventricosa.  This  fossil 
has  been  referred  to  in  earlier  reports  by  a  number  of  names  chief  of 
which  perhaps  is  Fusulina  sccalica.  In  size  and  shape  it  is  not  unlike  a 
grain  of  wheat.  This  coal  is  the  most  conspicuous  bed  in  the  entire  Penn- 

The  lenticular  coals  known  as  Nos.  3  and  4  in  this  report  are  valuable  as  correlation  beds 
in  the  district  under  consideration  and  for  convenience  they  are  designated  by  number.  These 
numbers  are  not  intended  to  apply  to  coals  in  somwhat  similar  positions  in  the  geologic  section 
throughout  the  State  (Editor). 

3W'hite,  David,  Paleo-botanical  work  in  Illinois  in  1908:  Ill.  Geol.  Survey,  Bull.  14,  p. 
294,  1908. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


77 


sylvanian  series  in  this  part  of  the  State  and  is  the  only  coal  bed  at  present 
worked  in  this  area. 


POTTSVILLE  FORMATION 

The  Pottsville  formation,  by  reason  of  the  irregular  surface  on  which 
it  was  deposited,  is  variable  in  thickness.  Near  Hillsboro  it  is  125  feet 
thick,  near  Litchfield  150  feet,  and  south  of  Carlinville  100  feet.  In  a 
drilled  well  three  miles  north  of  Plainview  only  75  feet  of  Pottsville  beds 
appear  to  be  present  and  it  seems  probable  in  consequence  that  a  low 
hill  was  present  in  this  vicinity  on  the  old  surface,  at  the  close  of  Mississip- 
pian  time. 

Although  sandstone  and  sandy  shales  have  been  reported  at  every 
horizon  between  the  top  of  the  Mississippian  rocks  and  the  Herrin  (No.  6) 
coal,  it  may  be  said  that  the  horizon  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal 
marks  a  change  in  general  character,  sandstone  beds  being  much  more 
common  below  than  above.  In  the  Pottsville  the  strata  consist  chiefly  of 
alternating  sand  and  sandy  shale  beds  in  which  the  sand  predominates. 
As  reported  in  the  logs  there  is  apparently  no  continuity  in  any  of  the  sands, 
and  the  conclusion  seems  to  be  justified  that  they  are  broken  and  inter¬ 
rupted.  They  seem  to  be  either  distinct  lens-shaped  bodies  of  limited 
extent  or  merely  represent  localities  where  less  clay  was  deposited  by 
the  shifting  currents  than  elsewhere.  Certain  beds  have  a  local  continuity, 
and  certain  parts  of  the  series  of  beds  are  more  sandy  than  others,  but 
there  do  not  appear  to  be  any  widely  spread  sandstone  beds.  Particular 
interest  attaches  to  the  sandstone  of  this  formation  since  the  oil  and  gas 
of  the  Carlinville  and  Litchfield  pools  comes  from  lenticular  sandstone 
bodies  near  its  top  and  below  the  base  of  the  Carbondale. 

Only  one  coal  bed  is  known  to  occur  in  the  Pottsville  of  this  area. 
It  is  the  lowest  of  a  series  of  six  coals  below  the  top  of  the  Carbondale 
formation.  At  the  Litchfield  mine  it  lies  250  feet  below  the  top  of  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  and  40  feet  below  the  base  of  the  Murphysboro  (No. 
2)  coal.  Stratigraphically  it  corresponds  to  and  may  be  equivalent  of 
coal  No.  1  of  Worthen. 


CARBONDALE  FORMATION 

The  Carbondale  was  deposited  above  the  Pottsville  apparently  with¬ 
out  any  greater  interruption  to  sedimentation  than  is  indicated  by  the 
oscillating  conditions  recorded  in  the  change  in  sediments  within  the  for¬ 
mations  themselves.  The  formation  is  much  more  uniform  in  thickness 
than  the  Pottsville,  since  the  accumulation  of  Carbondale  deposits  began 
on  an  already  leveled  surface.  The  variation  in  thickness  is  only  between 
205  and  220  feet.  It  consists  chiefly  of  shales,  sandy  shales,  sandstones, 
several  valuable  coal  beds,  and  a  few  thin  limestones. 


78 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


As  in  many  other  localities  the  basal  member  of  the  formation,  the 
Murphysboro  (Xo.  2)  coal,  is  in  most  places  bifurcated  and  consists  of 
two  thin  coal  beds.  These  beds  have  not  been  reported  in  all  the  logs 
of  wells  bored  to  the  depth  of  this  coal,  but  beds  of  black  shale  thought 
to  be  representative  of  it  are  present  in  some  localities. 

About  75  feet  above  the  base  of  the  Carbondale  and  about  135  feet 
below  the  top  of  the  Herrin  (Xo.  6)  coal  lies  a  group  of  coal  beds  occupy¬ 
ing  the  stratigraphic  position  of  Worthen’s  coal  Xo.  3.  The  two  prin¬ 
cipal  beds  are  separated  in  most  places  by  5  to  8  feet  of  shale  and  lime¬ 
stone,  the  latter  being  from  1  to  4  feet  thick.  The  thickest  of  these  beds 
is  probably  the  coal  formerly  worked  in  the  old  Litchfield  mine  east  of 
town  where,  however,  only  one  coal  bed  4  feet  thick  was  reported  without 
any  associated  limestone.  In  many  of  the  logs  a  thin  limestone  layer, 
which,  however,  may  be  concretionary,  is  reported  just  above  the  coal ; 
in  some  a  thin  layer  is  also  reported  below  the  lower  bench.  In  a  few 
of  the  logs  a  third  bed  of  coal  is  present  as  in  the  Litchfield  shaft  north  of 
town,  where  three  beds  of  coal  are  separated  by  two  thin  limestones  and 
associated  shale. 

This  coal  bed,  or  perhaps  group  of  coal  beds,  and  associated  lime¬ 
stones  are  present  in  logs  of  wells  in  Marshall,  Livingston,  Macon,  Scott. 
Cass,  Macoupin,  and  Montgomery  counties  and  may  be  regarded  a  valuable 
datum  plane  in  this  part  of  Illinois  when  used  in  connection  with  other 
well-known  strata.  The  following  section  of  this  group  of  coals  from 
the  Litchfield  shaft  is  typical. 


Section  of  coal  ( W ortlien  No.  3)  and  associateed  strata  at  Litchfield  shaft 


Sandy  shale  . 

Black  shale . 

Coal  . 

Shale  . 

Limestone  . 

Shale  . 

Coal,  slaty  . 

Coal  . 

Shale  . 

Limestone . 

Shale,  dark . 

Coal  . 

Shale  and  fire  clay 


Thickness 
Ft.  In. 


1 

1 

2 
3 
1 

2 

1 

1 

? 


11 

10 

-y 

3 


2 

10 

7 


6 

9 


19  3 

The  absence  of  the  highest  or  lowest  coal  bed  would  make  an  apparent 
reversal  in  the  order  of  the  limestone  reported  so  frequently  at  this  horizon, 
thus  giving  the  appearance  of  a  limestone  above  or  below  the  coal.  The 
limestone  is  not  an  associate  of  this  bed  to  the  southeast,  though  it  appears 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


79 


to  be  present  to  the  southwest  in  Madison  and  La  Salle  counties,  where 
probably  for  the  reason  suggested  above  limestone  appears  to  lie  above 
the  coal. 

Approximately  40  to  60  feet  above  No.  3  coal  group  is  a  bed  which 
appears  at  the  stratigraphic  position  of  Worthen’s  coal  No.  4.  It  is  75 
to  100  feet  below  the  top  of  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal;  and  though  it  has 
been  frequently  reported  to  be  of  workable  thickness  in  the  drill  records, 
it  has  never  been  mined  to  any  extent,  due  probably  to  its  thinness  in  the 
two  shafts  which  have  been  sunk  to  the  deeper  coal  beds. 

The  Springfield  (No.  5)  coal  lies  from  40  to  50  feet  below  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  It  has  a  thickness  of  only  2  or  3  feet  and  usually 
less,  and  is  frequently  reported  as  a  very  thin  sheet  of  only  a  few  inches. 
It  appears  not  to  be  present  at  many  localities  for  it  is  not  reported  in 
many  carefully  kept  logs. 

The  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  is  the  principal  bed  of  the  region  and  the 
only  one  mined  in  the  district  at  present.  It  has  a  thickness  of  5  to  8 
feet  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  area,  but  in  a  strip  5  or  6  miles 
wide  extending  north  and  slightly  east  of  south  from  Litchfield  the  coal 
is  thin  or  entirely  absent.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  field,  particularly  near 
Hillsboro,  the  coal  appears  to  have  been  cut  away  after  deposition,  for 
it  is  absent  in  channel-like  areas.  An  important  advantage  in  mining  the 
seam  is  the  prevailing  limestone  roof.  Locally,  however,  the  limestone 
has  been  replaced  by  shale,  and  this  has  caused  the  abandonment  near 
Mt.  Olive  of  otherwise  valuable  bodies  of  coal.  Throughout  a  considerable 
part  of  T.  9  N.,  R.  6  W.,  and  locally  in  the  northern  part  of  T.  8  N., 
R.  6  W.  and  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.  this  condition  exists.  The  position  of  the 
Pottsville  and  Carbondale  coals  is  typically  shown  in  the  following  log 
of  a  well  located  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec.  29,  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W. 


Log  of  well ,  sec.  29,  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W. 


Description  of  strata 

Thickness 

Depth 

Ft.  In. 

Ft.  In. 

Surface  . 

15 

15 

Sand  . 

1 

16 

Hardpan . 

29 

45 

McLeansboro  formation 

Clay,  sandv,  blue . 

18 

63 

Limestone  . 

10 

63  10 

Clay  . 

43  2 

107 

Sand,  green  . 

13 

120 

Gravel  . 

3 

123 

Limestone,  broken . 

12 

135 

Shale,  sandy . 

2 

137 

Slate,  black . 

1 

138 

Shale,  sandv  . 

45 

183 

Limestone,  dirty  . 

1 

184 

80 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Description  of  strata 


Thickness  Depth 


Ft. 

In. 

Ft.  In. 

Slate,  black  . 

1 

7 

185  7 

Limestone,  dirtv  . 

1 

5 

187 

Coal,  slaty  . 

.  . 

4 

187  4 

Shale,  gray  . 

6 

8 

194 

Limestone  with  shale  bands . 

5 

#  m 

199 

Shale,  sandy  . 

24 

.  . 

223 

Limestone  . 

5 

.  , 

228 

Sandstone  . 

11 

.  . 

239 

Shale,  sandy  . 

28 

6 

267  6 

Shale,  sandv  . 

22 

6 

290 

Sandstone  . 

28 

318 

Shale  . 

64 

382 

Limestone  . 

5 

387 

Shale,  sandv  . 

13 

400 

Limestone  . 

3 

403 

Shale  . 

53 

5 

456  5 

Carbondale  formation 

Coal  . 

f 

1 

1 

457  6 

Shale . 

No.  6 

1 

1 

458  7 

Coal  . 

1 

5 

460 

Fire  clay  . 

1 

.  . 

461 

Shale,  blue  . 

2 

.  . 

463 

Conglomerate  . 

3 

.  . 

466 

Shale,  hard  gray . 

16 

.  . 

482 

Slate,  black  . 

1 

6 

483  6 

Coal,  No.  5 . 

1 

1 

484  7 

Fire  clay  . 

2 

5 

487 

Sandstone  . . . 

46 

2 

533  2 

Coal  . 

2 

4 

535  6 

Shale . 

.  No.  4  - 

.  . 

4 

535  10 

Coal  . 

,  , 

8 

536  6 

Shale  . 

2 

6 

539 

Sandstone,  shale  partings . 

17 

.  • 

556 

Shale,  dark  sandy . 

34 

.  . 

590 

Shale,  black  . 

1 

11 

591  11 

Coal  . 

' 

1 

10 

593  9 

Shale . 

2 

3 

596 

Limestone  . 

3 

.  . 

599 

Shale,  soft . 

1 

2 

600  2 

Coal,  slatv  . 

No.  3 

.  . 

10 

601 

Coal  . 

group 

2 

7 

603  7 

Shale . .  . 

1 

5 

605 

Limestone  . 

1 

606 

Shale,  dark  . 

2 

6 

608  6 

Coal  . 

it 

.  . 

9 

609  3 

Shale,  soft  . 

4 

3 

613  6 

Fire  clay  . 

9 

6 

623 

Shale,  sandy  . 

16 

.  . 

639 

Sandstone  . 

5 

644 

OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


81 


Description  of  strata 

Thickness 

Depth 

Ft. 

In. 

Ft. 

In. 

Slate,  black  . 

4 

2 

648 

2 

Coal  . 

I 

•  . 

9 

648 

11 

Shale . 

l  No.  2  \ 

12 

4 

661 

3 

Coal  . 

4 

l 

.  . 

10 

662 

1 

Pottsville  formation 

Shaie,  sandy  . 

14 

11 

667 

Sandstone,  shaly . 

10 

.  . 

687 

Shale,  sandv,  dark  . 

14 

•  . 

701 

Limestone,  broken  . 

2 

.  , 

703 

Coal,  No.  1 . 

4 

10 

707 

10 

Fire  clay,  hard . 

6 

2 

714 

Shale,  dark  . 

3 

717 

Sandstone,  shale  parting . 

14 

•  • 

731 

Limestone,  shale  parting  . 

3 

•  • 

734 

Shale,  dark  sandy  bands . 

9 

743 

Sandstone,  hard  . 

2 

745 

Shale,  sandv  . 

22 

767 

Sandstone  . 

26 

.. 

793 

Shale,  blue  . 

10 

803 

Sandstone  . 

8 

811 

The  sandstones  of  the  Carbondale  formation,  like  those  of  the  Potts- 
ville,  are  irregular  and  discontinuous  in  character.  The  Vergennes  sand¬ 
stone  member,  so  conspicuous  a  feature  to  the  southeast  in  the  Murphys- 
boro-Herrin  district,  does  not  appear  to  be  present  in  the  Gillespie  and 
Mt.  Olive  quadrangles.  The  interval  between  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2) 
coal  and  coal  No.  3  is  on  the  whole  not  sandy.  It  is  true  that  in  one  or 
two  logs  a  sandstone  bed  5  to  8  feet  thick  is  reported,  and  in  some  of 
the  logs  the  entire  interval  is  said  to  be  sandy  shale.  The  latter  description 
however,  appears  in  the  less  reliable  logs  and  in  any  case  is  an  exception. 

Between  the  horizon  of  coal  No.  3  and  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal 
the  greatest  diversity  and  irregularity  of  deposition  of  the  sands  exists.  In 
the  vicinity  of  Carlinville  this  part  of  the  section  is  predominantly  shaly 
though  sand  is  not  uncommon  in  the  central  portions.  Near  Litchfield, 
however,  this  part  of  the  section  is  predominately  sandy,  though  shale 
is  also  present. 

Between  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  and  the  Springfield  (No.  5)  coal 
there  is  locally  some  limestone  of  variable  thickness,  and  in  some  logs  a 
few  feet  of  limestone  is  reported  immediately  below  the  Springfield 
(No.  5)  seam,  though  generally  neither  of  these  beds  is  present. 

MCLEANSBORO  FORMATION 

The  beds  lying  above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  in  this  region  belong 
to  the  McLeansboro  formation.  They  consist  of  a  series  of  shales  and 
sandy  shales,  very  subordinate  sandstones,  thin  coal  seams,  and  several 
conspicuous  limestone  beds  which  outcrop.  The  maximum  thickness  is  in 

6— B— 31 


82 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


the  old  abandoned  Litchfield  mine  east  of  the  town,  where  380  feet  of 
measured  strata  lie  above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  Because  of  erosion 
of  the  upper  part  the  formation  thins  westward  so  that  the  Herrin 
(No.  6)  coal  at  the  western  edge  of  the  area  is  overlain  by  less  than  200 
feet  of  combined  McLeansboro  rocks  and  glacial  deposits.  In  this  area 
the  rocks  of  this  part  of  the  section  are  well  known  from  prospect  holes 
bored  to  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal. 

The  most  conspicuous  surface  features  of  the  McLeansboro  formation 
are  the  outcropping  limestone  members.  Two  of  these  are  particularly 
conspicuous  and  are  practically  the  only  outcropping  beds  which  can  be 
readily  identified.  The  lower  of  these  beds,  which  had  been  named  the 
Carlinville  limestone  from  its  exposures  near  that  town,  was  in  1907  cor¬ 
related  by  Jon  A.  Udden4  with  the  Shoal  Creek  limestone  which  outer  ips 
on  that  stream  near  Breese.  It  appears  clear,  however,  from  outcrops  in 
the  head  of  Cahokia  Creek  between  Gillespie  and  Staunton  that  there  are 
two  limestone  beds  the  upper  of  which  is  the  Shoal  Creek,  the  lower  the 
Carlinville  member.  A  large  number  of  drill  holes  in  the  vicinity  and 
southward  toward  Breese  corroborate  this  conclusion,  and  the  members 
themselves  exhibit  distinctly  different  lithologic  characteristics,  at  least  in 
the  area  under  question  where  both  are  present. 

The  base  of  the  Shoal  Creek  limestone  is  about  75  feet  above  the  Car¬ 
linville  and  from  275  to  325  feet  above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal,  but 
toward  the  south  this  interval  increases,  being  350  feet  at  the  Future  mine 
at  Breese.  It  is  conspicuously  exposed  near  shaft  No.  3  of  the  Superior 
Coal  Company  and  at  other  points  in  the  vicinity  of  Gillespie,  on  Shoal 
Creek  west  of  Litchfield,  on  Lake  Fork  and  on  Shoal  Creek  near  Sorento. 
and  elsewhere.  By  reason  of  the  glaciation  the  top  of  the  bed  seldom 
appears  in  drilled  wells  or  in  exposures  since  the  overlying  soft  shales 
and  the  upper  part  of  the  limestone  seem  to  have  been  generally  trimmed 
off  by  the  moving  ice  sheet.  Where  not  eroded  it  has  a  thickness  of  12 
to  25  feet,  but  it  is  not  homogeneous  like  the  Carlinville  member  in  that 
it  consists  of  a  series  of  more  or  less  argillaceous  limestone  layers.  In 
certain  localities  the  top,  bottom,  or  middle  is  replaced  by  limy  shale. 
Near  Litchfield  it  appears  to  be  split  into  two  parts,  the  lower  separated 
from  the  upper  by  15  to  30  feet  of  shale,  but  it  is  possible  that  the  lower 
part  represents  a  local  bed  underlying  the  true  Shoal  Creek.  The  face  of 
weathered  exposures  presents  a  ragged  appearance  due  to  fine  conchoidal 
jointing  of  the  thin  beds. 

The  Carlinville  limestone  lies  from  200  to  225  feet  above  the  Herrin 
(No.  6)  coal  but  this  interval  fluctuates,  and  at  the  eastern  margin  of 
the  field  where  the  logs  show  the  bed  thin  and  irregular,  the  interval  is 
thought  to  diminish  to  175  feet.  Where  best  developed  the  bed  has  a  thick- 


4Udden,  Jon  A.,  Notes  on  the  Shoal  Creek  Limestone:  Ill.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  8,  p.  118,  1907. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


83 


ness  of  6  to  7  feet,  and  is  tough,  gray,  dense,  and  much  more  homogeneous 
in  character  than  the  Shoal  Creek  member.  The  Carlinville  is  also  less 
argillaceous  and  may  be  distinguished  from  the  Shoal  Creek  by  its 
smoother  grain  and  its  method  of  weathering,  the  Carlinville  breaking  into 
regular  smooth-sided  chips,  whereas  weathered  outcrops  of  the  Shoal 
Creek  member  are  littered  with  ragged  chips  and  plates.  To  the  south 
toward  the  Breese  and  Belleville  quadrangles  the  Carlinville  member  be¬ 
comes  thin  and  irregular  and  can  not  be  positively  identified  in  the  logs. 
It  is  possible  that  it  dies  out  to  the  south  and  is  merely  a  lentil.  The  “top” 
limestone  mentioned  by  Udden  and  Shaw5  in  a  description  of  the  Belle- 
ville-Breese  area  may  be  its  equivalent,  but  this  bed  is  only  100  to  130  feet 
above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  and  probably  represents  a  similar  lime¬ 
stone  lentil  lower  in  the  section.  It  seems  more  plausible  to  regard  the 
“top”  limestone  therefore  the  equivalent  of  a  sporadic  limestone  which  is 
not  uncommonly  reported  in  the  logs  as  lying  150  to  175  feet  above  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  in  the  western  part  of  the  area,  though  there  is  nothing 
save  the  interval  to  justify  the  correlation. 

Intermediate  between  the  Carlinville  and  Shoal  Creek  members  and 
30  to  50  feet  below  the  Shoal  Creek  member,  another  limestone  bed  is 
exposed  at  a  number  of  localities  south  and  west  of  Gillespie,  but  this  bed 
does  not  appear  to  be  continuous.  It  is  in  most  places  only  2  to  3  feet  thick, 
but  its  close  association  with  a  continuous,  black  shale  band  or  thin  coal 
bed  is  sufficiently  common  to  suggest  that  it  occupies  a  definite  position  in 
the  section,  and  that  it  may  prove  to  be  better  developed  in  adjoining  areas. 

The  limestone  bed  outcropping  in  the  railroad  cut  east  of  Plainview 
which  Worthen  regarded  as  the  Carlinville  is  believed  to  represent  a  local 
thick  limestone  bed  mentioned  above  which  is  somewhat  lower  in  the  section 
and  is  shown  by  logs  in  this  part  of  the  state  to  lie  about  150  feet  above 
the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal. 

Most  persistent  of  all,  in  the  well  records  of  this  part  of  the  section  is 
the  limestone  series  overlying  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  It  is  in  most 
places  from  20  to  30  feet  thick,  but  in  many  localities  the  continuity  of 
limestone  deposition  was  broken  by  shale  deposits,  the  limestone  alternating 
with  shale  beds  and  forming  a  distinct,  though  heterogeneous,  group.  This 
limestone  bed,  which  is  one  of  the  most  useful  criteria  for  identifying 
the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  by  reason  of  its  persistence  and  the  presence  in 
it  of  a  small,  distinctive  fossil,  is  absent,  however,  in  most  of  the  logs  in 
a  strip  from  northwest  to  southeast  through  the  central  part  of  the  area. 

Another  persistent  member  is  a  bed  of  red,  or  brownish,  clay  shown 
in  the  above  section.  It  is  usually  reported  from  40  to  60  feet  above  the 
coal.  This  bed,  although  having  a  variable  position,  lies  above  the  first 
thin  coal  bed  above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  It  is  widely  recorded  in 

5Udden,  J.  A.,  and  Shaw,  E.  W.,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Geol.  Atlas,  Belleville-Breese  folio 
(No.  195),  p.  6,  1915. 


84 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


logs,  being  present  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Springfield  area  and  reported 
in  logs  20  miles  south  of  the  Gillespie-Aft.  Olive  quadrangle.  It  probably 
represents  a  period  of  elevation  and  erosion  when  the  iron  content  of  the 
exposed  shales  became  oxidized. 

Four  thin  coal  members  are  persistent  throughout  the  area  and  are 

usually  reported  in  the  logs.  Their  general  position,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
limestones  is  well  shown  in  the  accompanying  log. 


Log  of  well  in  SW.  part  of  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W . 


Description  of  strata 

Thickness 

Depth 

Ft.  In. 

Ft.  In. 

Clay,  yellow . 

4 

4 

Sand  . 

6 

10 

Clay,  yellow . 

25 

35 

Sand . 

7 

42 

Clay,  blue . 

33 

75 

Sand  and  gravel . 

8 

83 

Shale,  limy . 

13 

96 

Limestone,  Shoal  Creek . 

16 

112 

Shale,  dark . 

37 

149 

Coal  . 

3 

149  3 

Shale,  clayev . 

9 

150 

Shale,  black . 

3 

153 

Coal  . 

3 

153  3 

Shale,  clav . 

5  9 

159 

Shale,  limv . 

2 

161 

Limestone  . 

4 

165 

Shale,  sandy  . 

10 

175 

Shale,  dark . 

15 

190 

Limestone,  Carlinville . 

6 

196 

Shale,  sandv . 

23 

219 

Shale,  gray . 

20 

239 

Coal  . 

6 

239  6 

Shale  . 

2  6 

242 

Shale,  limy . 

9 

251 

Shale,  sandy . 

32 

283 

Shale  crrav  . 

48 

331 

Shale,  dark  blue . 

11  9 

342  9 

Coal  . 

3 

343 

Shale,  clay . 

6 

349 

Shale,  dark . 

5 

354 

Shale,  clay . 

2 

356 

Shale  red  . 

8 

364 

Shale,  limy . 

2 

366 

T  impstnnp  . 

6 

372 

Shale  . 

4 

376 

SDtp  hbip  . 

1 

377 

Coal  . 

1  6 

378  6 

Shale,  gray . 

9  6 

388 

Limestone . 

16 

404 

OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


85 


Description  of  strata 

Thickness 

Depth 

Ft. 

In. 

Ft. 

In. 

Shale,  dark . 

4 

•  • 

408 

•  • 

Coal,  No.  6 . 

8 

9 

416 

9 

Shale,  clav . 

3 

420 

Sandstone  beds  have  been  reported  in  the  well  logs  at  all  horizons  of 
the  McLeansboro,  and  though  sandy  shale  is  conspicuous  above  the  red  clay 
horizon,  no  sharply  marked  continuous  sandstones  or  sandy  horizons  are 
present. 

Quaternary  Deposits 

Overlying  the  surface  of  the  McLeansboro  formation  is  a  series  of 
pebbly  and  sandy  clay  deposits  called  drift  which  varies  in  thick¬ 
ness  from  a  few  feet  to  190  feet.  These  deposits  were  accumulated 
very  much  later  than  the  “Coal  Measures”  and  were  deposited  on  them 
after  they  had  been  worn  down  by  erosion  to  a  surface  considerably  more 
broken  and  hilly  than  that  which  forms  the  surface  today.  This  old 
surface  was  finally  covered  by  a  great  continental  ice  sheet  which  swept 
down  from  the  north  bearing  with  it  the  debris  worn  from  the  rocks  over 
which  it  plowed.  After  the  melting  of  this  ice  the  old  valleys  in  this  part 
of  the  State  had  been  completely  buried  by  the  debris,  and  nearly  the  entire 
surface  of  the  State  was  left  with  a  surface  such  as  that  which  today  exists 
on  the  flat  upland  divides  in  this  area.  Since  that  time  the  drainage  from 
this  great  flat  area  has  developed  valleys  and  cut  deeply  into  the  covering 
of  glacial  drift  and  in  many  localities  into  the  rocks  of  the  “Coal  Measures” 
below. 

Sticks,  stumps,  and  buried  soils  found  between  the  upper  and  lower 
parts  of  the  glacial  debris,  clearly  indicate  that  this  part  of  Illinois,  in 
common  with  areas  farther  north,  was  buried  beneath  at  least  two  successive 
great  ice  sheets,  and  that  a  period  long  enough  for  the  growth  of  forests 
and  the  accumulation  of  soil  elapsed  between  the  disappearance  of  the  first 
ice  sheet  and  the  advance  of  the  second.  The  hills  in  the  vicinity  of 
Hillsboro  were  probably  built  up  at  the  edge  of  the  second  ice  sheet  during 
a  pause  in  its  retreat,  the  ice  dropping  its  load  at  the  edge  of  the  glacier 
and  leaving  it  behind  when  climatic  conditions  caused  a  melting  of  the  ice. 

STRUCTURE 
Structure  Contours 

The  position  of  coal  No.  6  above  sea  level  is  shown  in  Plates  IX  and  X 
by  means  of  red  contour  lines.  Since  the  beds  above  and  below  the  coal 
are  approximately  parallel  to  it,  the  contours  show  the  general  geological 
structure  of  all  the  beds.  In  order  that  the  reader  may  understand  and 
interpret  the  structure  contour,  he  is  requested  to  examine  Plate  X.  The 


86 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


prominent  red  lines  represent  the  surface  of  coal  Xo.  6  as  it  would  appear 
if  all  the  overlying  beds  were  removed. 

The  reader  is  requested  to  imagine  the  surface  of  coal  No.  6  to  be 
flooded  by  a  large  body  of  water  the  surface  of  which  lies  150  feet  above 
the  present  sea  level.  The  shore  line  would  be  represented  by  the  150-foot 
contour.  If  the  level  of  the  water  were  raised  by  25-foot  intervals  the 
successive  shore  lines  would  be  indicated  by  the  corresponding  contours. 
The  upward  folds  or  anticlines,  as  in  the  western  part  of  Butler  Grove 
Township,  would  extend  out  into  the  sea  as  long  arms  of  land,  whereas 
the  downward  folds  or  synclines  such  as  the  one  north  of  Litchfield  would 
be  covered  by  bays  and  lagoons.  If  the  water  stood  at  the  250-foot  contour 
line,  the  dome  one  mile  southeast  of  Litchfield  would  be  an  island  50  feet 
above  the  sea. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  contours  show  only  the  larger  and 
more  prominent  features  of  the  structure.  In  parts  of  the  area  where 
neither  rock  exposures  nor  drill  holes  are  available  the  structure  is  indicated 
by  broken  lines,  to  show  that  their  position  has  been  determined  by  inference 
only.  The  workings  of  the  coal  mines  show  many  fluctuations  which  the 
sparsely  grouped  drill  holes  fail  to  reveal. 

These  fluctuations  of  the  coal  usually  shown  on  the  floor  of  coal  mines 
amount  locally  to  10  or  20  feet  and  more  and  have  no  apparent  relation  to 
the  general  structure.  As  there  is  no  way  of  determining  whether  a  drill 
hole  has  penetrated  an  anticlinal  or  synclinal  phase  of  this  subordinate 
warping,  a  certain  amount  of  deviation  from  the  actual  structure  is  thus 
inevitably  introduced  in  the  structure  contour  map. 

Structure  of  the  Gillespie  and  Mt.  Olive  Ouadrangles 

The  rocks  of  the  area  have  not  suffered  marked  deformation.  The 
strata  have  been  warped  into  irregular  and  very  low  domes  and  shallow 
basins  without  any  very  definite  order  of  arrangement.  As  shown  in  Plate 
IX  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  rises  irregularly  from  an  altitude  of  150  feet 
in  the  southeast  corner  to  over  400  feet  near  the  western  margin  of  the 
area,  an  increase  of  elevation  of  nearly  275  feet.  In  parts  of  the  area  the 
strata  are  practically  flat,  as  in  the  area  southeast  of  Mt.  Olive,  where  the 
average  dip  is  about  four  feet  to  the  mile  toward  the  east.  The  steepest 
dips  occur  north  of  Staunton,  where  for  a  distance  of  about  one  mile  the 
beds  dip  eastward  from  25  to  40  feet  to  the  mile,  and  near  Panama  where, 
about  the  flanks  of  a  ridge-like  structural  feature,  for  a  distance  of  less 
than  one  half  mile  the  dip  is  over  100  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  chief  structural  features  are:  a  trough  which  may  be  called  the 
Shoal  Creek  syncline,  extending  from  Panama  nearly  to  Litchfield,  and 
closely  following  the  valley  of  Shoal  Creek;  a  structural  flat  6  to  8  miles 
wide  extending  from  Walshville  Township  northwest  into  Honey  Point 
Township;  and  a  gently  sloping  surface  rising  from  this  flat  to  the  west. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


87 


the  last  feature  being  greatly  modified  by  subordinate  warpings.  A  less 
distinct  feature  which  strongly  suggests  a  gentle  anticline  diagonally  crosses 
these  larger  deformations  and  extends  from  sec.  4,  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W.  south¬ 
westerly  toward  Litchfield  and  Mt.  Olive.  A  sharp  anticlinal  ridge  also  pro¬ 
jects  from  the  west  side  of  the  Shoal  Creek  syncline  and  extends  from  a 
point  north  of  Sorento  to  a  point  south  of  Panama,  and  around  the  flanks  of 
this  occur  the  steep  slopes  already  mentioned.  A  structural  basin  which 
occurs  north  of  Litchfield  is  very  evident  at  the  Litchfield  mine  and  farther 
north.  The  horizon  of  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  is  here  depressed  nearly  50 
feet  below  its  general  position.  It  is  probable  that  this  basin  extends  to  the 
northward,  possibly  in  continuation  of  the  interrupted  Shoal  Creek  syncline 
cut  off  by  the  diagonally  trending  anticline  mentioned. 

Domes  occur  in  the  Carlinville  oil  field  ;  in  the  Litchfield  oil  field ;  3 
miles  northwest  of  Staunton ;  5  miles  southwest  of  Litchfield ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  in  an  ill-defined  area  northwest  of  Butler  the  strata  are  higher 
than  in  the  surrounding  country.  Another  small  area  3f4  miles  north  of 
Plainview  is  also  doubtfully  regarded  as  dome  structure.  These  structures, 
which  are  of  particular  interest  in  prospecting  for  oil,  will  be  described  in 
greater  detail. 


Litchfield  Oil  and  Gas  Field 

The  first  valuable  deposit  of  oil  found  in  the  State  was  discovered  at 
Litchfield  by  the  Litchfield  Coal  Company  in  November,  1879.°  In  an  effort 
to  find  a  lower  coal  seam  sufficiently  thick  to  be  profitably  mined,  a  hole 
was  drilled  in  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  which  passed  into  oil-bearing  sand 
at  a  depth  of  255  feet  below  the  coal  and  682  feet  below  the  surface.  The 
salt  water  at  first  threatened  to  flood  the  mine,  but  the  hole  was  success¬ 
fully  plugged,  though  oil  leaked  into  the  mine  and  was  skimmed  from  the 
mine  water  for  several  years.  The  oil  was  a  heavy  lubricating  oil  and 
was  associated  with  salt  water  and  gas. 

No  great  excitement  such  as  is  now  usually  manifested  attended  the 
discovery.  A  few  holes  were  drilled,  however,  and  in  1882  four  wells 
were  being  pumped,  each  producing,  according  to  Worthen,  about  two 
barrels  of  oil  per  day.  In  1882  the  first  big  gas  well  was  brought  in.  It 
had  an  initial  pressure  of  400  to  450  pounds  per  square  inch,  but  in  1885 
in  drilling  deeper,  salt  water  was  struck  and  the  well  was  spoiled. 

In  the  same  year  two  other  gas  wells  were  brought  in  which  had  a 
pressure  of  125  pounds  per  square  inch.  The  gas  was  piped  to  Litchfield 
(a  distance  of  about  1^4  miles)  by  the  Litchfield  Gas,  Oil,  and  Fuel 
Company  and  was  used  for  cooking  and  lighting  for  several  years.  In 
1886  about  500  stoves  were  supplied,  but  in  1889  the  supply  of  gas  was 
equivalent  to  only  12  tons  of  coal  per  year,  which  was  all  consumed  in 


‘’Worthen,  A.  II.,  Geol.  Surv.  of  Ill.,  Vol.  VII,  p.  37,  1883. 


88 


OIL  INVESTIGATION 5 


pumping  oil.  There  were  never  more  than  four  or  five  oil  wells  being 
pumped  at  any  one  time,  though  they  were  reported  to  yield  about  4  barrels 
per  well  a  day  in  1889.  In  1904  two  of  the  wells  were  still  being  pumped, 
but  were  closed  down  soon  after  on  account  of  the  low  price  of  oil,  it  was 
said,  though,  since  the  yield  had  fallen  from  1,460  barrels  in  1889  to  some 
200  barrels  in  1902,  there  were  probably  other  reasons.  In  1906  new  wells 
were  drilled  near  the  old  gas  wells  Nos.  5  and  15,  but  they  were  capped  and 
so  far  as  known  no  attempt  was  made  to  pump  them.  Up  to  1889  some  30 
wells  had  been  drilled  in  the  area  chiefly  for  gas,  but  all  except  the  five 
wells  at  that  time  producing  oil  had  been  abandoned  several  years.  Since 
that  time  there  has  been  sporadic  drilling  from  time  to  time  without  any 
success  in  extending  the  limits  of  the  productive  area. 

The  oil  as  reported  in  “Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  in  1889" 
was  said  to  be  dark,  almost  black  and  to  have  a  specific  gravity  of  22°  B. 
The  cold  test  was  remarkable,  the  oil  remaining  fluid  at  20°  Fahrenheit. 
It  was  used  chiefly  by  factories  in  the  neighborhood  of  Litchfield  and  was 
sold  at  nearby  points  for  lubricating  purposes  at  8  to  10  cents  per  gallon. 

From  the  time  of  its  discovery  until  1902  the  production  of  oil  and  gas 
in  Illinois  was  the  production  of  the  Litchfield  pool.  Between  1889  and 
1902  the  yield  fell  from  1460  barrels  to  200  barrels  per  year.  During  this 
period  6,756  barrels  were  produced.  In  October,  1882,  Professor  Worthen 
of  the  Illinois  Geological  Survey  reported  that  four  wells  were  in  operation, 
producing  two  barrels  each  per  day,  equal  to  2,920  barrels  per  year.  Assum¬ 
ing  a  gradual  decrease  from  this  time  until  1889  when  the  yield  was  1.460 
barrels,  the  production  for  these  years  was  13,875  barrels,  making  a  total 
production  between  1883  and  1902  of  20,451  barrels,  which  is  doubtless 
somewhat  below  the  total  production  since  no  account  is  taken  of  the 
production  between  the  discovery  in  1879  and  1883.  The  total  production 
was  probably  not  far  from  22,000  barrels. 

The  structure  of  the  rocks  of  the  area  near  Litchfield  based  on  that 
of  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  shows  a  very  distinct  dome.  The  same  coal  beds 
found  in  the  oil  wells  east  of  Litchfield  are  about  70  feet  lower  in  the 
mine  in  sec.  33  of  the  adjoining  township,  scarcely  more  than  a  mile 
distant.  The  dip  of  the  beds  toward  the  southeast  is  apparent  from  the 
limestone  outcrops  in  the  creek  southeast  of  town  followed  by  the  C.  C.  C. 
&  St.  L.  Railway.  Toward  the  west  the  dip  is  less  pronounced,  the  hori¬ 
zon  of  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  at  the  test  hole  at  the  southwestern 
corner  of  Litchfield  being  only  about  40  feet  lower.  Toward  the  south 
the  dip  near  the  oil  pool  is  not  known,  but  it  is  at  least  30  feet  lower  three 
miles  distant.  It  is  probable  that  the  dome  just  described  was  the  essential 
factor  in  causing  the  accumulation  of  the  oil  in  the  Litchfield  pool. 

Of  the  older  wells  six  produced  oil  and  seven  produced  gas.  The 
oil  holes  lie  in  almost  a  straight  line  in  a  tract  about  one-half  mile  long 


ILL! 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  VII 


FEt 

7 


H 


-4! 


TJ- 

to 

6 

2 

O 

2 

o 

Q> 

in 

CD 

JC 

o 

> 

C 

CO 

CD 

> 

0) 

> 

c 

CD 

> 

0) 

> 

UJ 

CO 

> 

UI 

o 

2 

o  £ 
>  <£> 


CO  -S' 

>  UJ 


o 

2 

>  tO 

S  M 

>  UI 


5( 


-31 


L2« 


-14 


No  nas 
or  - 
water 


-  a 


L5( 


Large 

gas 

vein 


mu  Gas - 


Gas 

sand 


CM 

6 

Is 

C  g 
«0  — 
>  UJ 


o 

z 

JC 

o  m' 
^  CO 

>  to 

si 

>  UJ 


LEGEND 


Sand 

Sandstone 

Clay 

I  * 

Clay  and 
gravel 

Slate 

Shale 

Clay  and 
Shale 

Sandy 

shaie 

Brown 

shale 

Black 

shale 

Rock 

Limestone 

Shelly 

limestone 


i i 


Fire  clay 


Coal 


Good 

sand 


Salt 

water 


j£f  Poor 
LUj  sand 


Oil 

trace 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  TLATE  VII 


CM 


CO 

o 


<->  _ 
O)  Oi 

>  5 
©  I 

>  Ui 


I  - 

>  <£> 


Mo. 3 


'Oil'  - 


6 

©  cn 

=  r^. 

§  *5 

o  © 

2  u 


©  £ 
>  CO 


o  00 
>  <*> 


^  10 
>  co 


©  © 
>  Ui 


55 


Gas 

trace 


•fit1? 


Surlace 

Water 


Hard 


Light 


Red 

Flint 


No.6 


Coal 
No.  4 


Gray 


White 
Oil  jock 


Oil 


?  -- . .  . 


Gas~J 

trace 

Oil 


o 

d 

2 

rv. 

o 

2 

o 

CO 

o 

o 

© 

> 

o 

00 

CO 

o 

© 

> 

CM 

00 

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IT) 

CO 

2 

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o 

V 

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o 

2 

jk 

o 

c 

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> 

> 

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Ui 

c 

co 

> 

> 

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<0 

> 

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> 

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> 

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> 

c 

© 

> 

I  2 

>  CO 


|S 

>  <£> 


>  ur 


g  £ 
5  2 


>  UJ 


Gas 


LEGEND 


"Gas 

sand 


Gas 

Gas 

sand 


Gas  ~ 
sand 


No.gas 
or  - 
water 


? 


Large 

gas 

vein 


n 


Gas 

Gas 

sand 


Good 

sand 


Salt 

water 


Poor 

sand 


Sand 

Sandstone 

Clay 

Clay  and 
gravel 

Slate 

Shale 

Clay  and 
Shale 

Sandy 

shale 

Brown 

shale 

Black 

shale 

Rock 

Limestone 

Shelly 

limestone 

Fire  clay 


Coal 


m 


Oil 

trace 


Graphic  sections  of  Litchfield  wells 
(For  location  of  wells  see  figure  17) 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


89 


and  one-eighth  mile  wide.  The  gas  holes,  however,  are  sprinkled  over  a 
slightly  wider  area  as  may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  sketch  map 
(fig.  17).  Plate  VII  shows  the  position  of  the  oil  and  gas  sands  in  the 
different  holes.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  gas  wells  lie  chiefly  to  the  east  of 
the  oil  holes,  and  that  the  gas  was  reached  in  a  sand  which  lies  40  or  50 
feet  higher  than  the  oil  sand.  The  distance  between  oil  well  No.  13  and 
gas  well  No.  5  is  scarcely  more  than  500  feet,  yet  the  gas  sand  is  nearly 


R.  5  W. 


Fig.  17.  Map  showing  location  of  wells  in  Litchfield  pool  and  order  of  arrange¬ 
ment  of  logs  in  Plate  VII. 

50  feet  higher  than  the  oil  sand  as  shown  by  the  correlation  lines  on  Plate 
VII.  This  is  not  easily  accounted  for,  either  by  flexure  or  by  faulting,  since 
sharp  displacements  of  the  strata  in  so  short  a  distance  due  to  either  of 
these  causes  are  not  known  in  this  part  of  Illinois.  The  most  plausible 
explanation  of  the  phenomena  lies  in  the  probable  presence  of  more  than 
one  sandstone  bed,  the  upper  of  which  was  gas-bearing,  whereas  the  lower 
was  productive  of  oil.  The  fact  that  at  the  time  the  field  was  being 


90 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


exploited  the  gas  was  of  more  consequence  than  the  oil  and  the  fact  that 
the  first  gas  well  was  lost  by  the  influx  of  salt  water  while  drilling  the  hole 
deeper,  offers  an  explanation  of  the  failure  to  drill  deeper  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  field.  No  complete  records  of  the  early  drilling  have  been 
preserved,  and  it  is  not  now  known  whether  the  gas  sand  extended  west¬ 
ward  above  the  oil  sand  in  the  area  of  the  earlier  producing  wells.  This 
seems  in  some  respects  not  unlikely  since  a  gas-bearing  sand  is  reported  at 
the  same  horizon  in  the  McWilliams  well  west  of  hole  No.  13,  though  no 
upper  gas  sand  was  reported  in  the  surviving  fragmental  logs  of  the  oil 
holes. 

It  is  probable  that  the  oil  sand  extends  beneath  the  horizon  of  the  gas 
sand  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  field.  In  1906  two  new  wells  were  drilled 
near  the  abandoned  gas  wells  No.  5  and  No.  15,  both  of  which  were 
reported  to  be  oil  bearing.  Whether  the  holes  reached  the  oil  stratum 
below  the  exhausted  gas  sand,  or  whether  oil  during  the  16  years  since  the 
exhaustion  of  the  gas  had  found  its  way  into  the  formerly  gas-bearing 
horizon  is  not  known.  The  wells  were  capped  over  without  being  pumped, 
and  it  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  but  little  oil  was  encountered. 

The  productive  sands  in  the  Litchfield  field,  as  well  as  in  the  Carlin- 
ville  field,  occur  at  and  below  the  horizon  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2) 
coal.  In  the  old  Litchfield  shaft  where  the  first  discovery  was  made,  the 
oil  sand  lies  below  the  horizon  of  the  coal  No.  1  and  below  the  natural 
position  of  this  coal  in  the  McWilliams  well  No.  3.  The  sands  from  which 
the  chief  gas  production  has  come  seem  to  lie  higher  in  the  section  and  in 
the  McWilliams  well  No.  3  this  sand  seems  to  lie  at  the  elevation  of  coal 
No.  1  and  probably  cuts  it  out.  The  significant  feature  is  that,  although 
the  sands  are  not  continuous,  the  oil-  and  gas-bearing  lenses  correspond  very 
closely  in  stratigraphic  position  to  the  oil  and  gas  sands  in  the  Carlinville 
area  and  were  it  not  for  intervening  logs  which  clearly  show  the  absence 
of  this  sand  the  beds  might  easily  be  correlated.  In  spite  of  the  frequency 
of  more  or  less  extensive  sand  bodies  higher  in  the  Carbondale  and 
McLeansboro  formations  no  oil  has  ever  been  found  in  them,  only  pockets 
of  gas  being  present. 

The  conditions  are  somewhat  analogous  to  those  existing  in  the 
Carlinville  field  where,  although  the  doming  of  the  rocks  appears  to  be  the 
controlling  factor  in  the  accumulation  of  the  oil,  the  character  of  the  sand¬ 
stone  lenses  appears  to  have  been  the  deciding  factor  in  determining  what 
particular  part  of  the  dome  should  be  the  repository  of  oil.  The  association 
of  gas  in  a  higher  sand  with  oil  in  a  lower,  possibly  connecting,  bed  is  also  a 
parallel  circumstance. 

Only  a  few  complete  logs  have  been  preserved  so  that  a  complete 
analysis  of  the  field  is  now  impossible.  The  field  will  never  again  reach 
its  former  production,  but  it  seems  possible  on  account  of  the  high  viscosity 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


91 


of  the  oil  that  considerable  oil  yet  remains  in  the  developed  area,  and  that 
by  drilling  to  the  east  of  the  old  oil  wells  a  modest  production  may  be 
expected  from  the  deeper  sand.  The  viscosity  of  the  oil  preventing  its 
easy  extraction  from  the  sands  would  seem  to  warrant  the  closer  spacing  of 
the  holes  and  the  use  of  modern  devices  for  more  complete  extraction. 
The  area  has  never  received  systematic  development  and  though  there  is  a 
possibility  of  future  production  on  a  small  scale  the  returns  will  not  be 
high.  No  information  is  available  as  to  whether  the  holes  were  plugged, 
but  it  is  probable  that  some  were  abandoned  without  plugging.  What 
effect  this  may  have  had  on  the  oil  yet  in  the  ground  is  problematical. 

Carlinville  Oil  and  Gas  Field 

The  first  knowledge  of  gas  in  the  Carlinville  area  was  obtained  in  the 
early  sixties  when  a  water  well  was  being  dug  in  the  glacial  drift  in  sec.  7, 
T.  9  N.,  R.  7  W.  The  man  engaged  in  digging  the  well  is  said  to  have 
paused  in  his  work  to  light  his  pipe,  thus  igniting  a  small  pocket  of  gas, 
which  the  story  relates  set  fire  to  his  clothing.  Led  by  this  discovery,  a 
well  was  drilled  in  1867  near  the  east  quarter  corner  of  sec.  7 ;  but  the 
hole  was  unsuccessful,  and  prospecting  was  abandoned.  In  1909  pros¬ 
pecting  was  renewed  in  the  same  area  by  the  Impromptu  Exploration 
Company,  directed  by  Mr.  T.  A.  Rinaker,  and  a  small  gas  field  was 
developed  which  was  sufficient  to  provide  illumination  for  Carlinville  for 
two  or  three  years.  Continued  exploration  toward  the  east  in  November, 
1911,  developed  a  small  oil  pool  which  has  had  a  reported  production  up 
to  the  close  of  1914  of  16,540  barrels.  An  isolated  gas  well  was  drilled  in 
the  early  part  of  1912  on  the  Hammann  farm  near  the  center  of  the  north 
line  of  sec.  16,  T.  9  N.,  R.  7  W.  The  pressure  is  said  to  be  between  85 
and  90  pounds,  but  the  owner  was  unable  to  come  to  terms  with  the  Litch¬ 
field  gas  company  and  the  well  is  now  capped,  and  no  effort  is  being  made 
to  use  the  product.  The  bottom  of  the  well  is  507  feet,  below  the  surface 
and  295  feet  below  the  top  of  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  The  gas  comes, 
therefore,  from  the  lowest  of  the  Pottsville  sands  recognized  in  this  area. 

The  gas  in  the  Carlinville  area  was  reported  to  be  of  good  quality  and 
similar  to  that  at  Greenville  and  Jacksonville.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
almost  odorless  and  colorless,  and  to  burn  with  a  hot,  blue  flame.  The 
initial  pressure  was  135  pounds  but  in  1912  it  had  fallen  to  about  35 
pounds. 

The  oil  is  dark  brown  and  semi-viscous  and  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
28.6°  B.  It  is  said  to  resemble  the  oil  formerly  produced  in  the  old  Litch¬ 
field  pool  and  the  Duncanville  heavy  oil  of  Crawford  Company,  though  the 
former  was  considerably  heavier  than  that  found  here. 

The  structure  of  the  oil-  and  gas-producing  area  at  the  horizon  of  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  is  a  low  dome  crowning  a  long  eastward-sloping 
surface  having  a  dip  of  about  10  feet  to  the  mile.  The  height  of  this  dome 


92 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


does  not  exceed  20  feet  at  the  horizon  of  the  Herrin  (Xo.  6)  coal,  but  at 
the  horizon  of  coal  No.  3  and  its  accompanying  limestone  bed,  and  at  the 
uppermost  of  the  gas-bearing  sands,  the  dome  is  accentuated  as  may  be 
seen  on  Plate  VIII.  Figure  18  shows  the  dome  by  contour  lines  on  the 


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Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  and  on  the  highest  sandstone  bed.  As  may  be  seen, 
the  deformation  of  the  two  surfaces  is  practically  concentric.  The  Herrin 
(No.  6)  coal  bed  has,  however,  not  been  reported  in  all  the  logs,  and  it  has 


ILLINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


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Graphic  sections  of  Carlinville  wells 
(For  location  of  wells  see  figure  19) 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  VIII 


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OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


93 


been  necessary  to  determine  its  position  in  some  of  the  wells  by  correlation 
of  the  logs  on  the  overlying  limestone  and  black  shales.  This  may  account 
for  the  apparent  deviation. 

Whereas  the  doming  of  the  rocks  at  this  point  was  probably  a  very 
important  factor  in  localizing  the  oil  pool,  other  factors  such  as  the  slope, 
continuity,  and  porosity  of  the  sand  beds  at  different  places  were  equally 
important.  The  discontinuity  of  the  sandstone  beds  was  recognized  by 
F.  H.  Kay7  who  reported  the  field  in  1912,  but  no  attempt  was  made  at 
that  time  to  distinguish  the  productive  sandstone  lentils.  Several  new  wells 
have  been  drilled  in  the  past  two  or  three  years,  and  it  now  seems  possible 
to  distinguish  four  productive  horizons  only  one  of  which,  however,  has 
been  commercially  profitable. 

Plate  VIII  shows  the  essential  relations  of  the  various  sandstone 
horizons  to  one  another.  A  little  gas  has  been  reported  in  several  wells  in 
the  black  shale  immediately  overlying  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  The  high¬ 
est  gas-bearing  stratum  of  any  importance,  however,  was  penetrated  by 
the  Klein  No.  1  well,  which  passed  into  30  feet  of  gas  sand  at  a  depth 
of  350  feet.  The  horizon  of  this  sand  is  that  of  the  upper  bench  of  the 
Murphysboro  or  No.  2  coal,  which,  if  no  error  has  been  introduced  in 
reporting  the  log,  has  been  replaced  at  this  location  by  sand.  The  fact 
that  no  sand  was  reported  at  this  position  in  either  Denby  No.  1  or  V. 
Hall  No.  1  wells  one-half  and  one-fourth  mile  distant  respectively,  nor 
in  any  other  log  in  the  field  except  the  Mutzbauer  well  in  sec.  23,  T.  9  N., 
R.  8  W.  suggests  either  that  the  gas  comes  from  an  isolated  sand  lens, 
or  that  an  error  has  crept  in  the  log,  and  that  its  actual  position  is  some¬ 
what  deeper.  The  sand  reported  in  the  Mutzbauer  well  seems  to  substan¬ 
tiate  the  log  of  the  Klein  No.  1  well,  at  the  same  time  suggesting  a  zone 
of  sandstone  lentils  above  the  sands  about  to  be  described.  The  possibility 
of  sharp  flexure  at  this  point  seems  to  be  discounted  by  the  regularity  of  the 
sandstone  below  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  and  by  limestone  accom¬ 
panying  coal  No.  3  group. 

The  next  sand  bed  of  interest  lies  20  to  25  feet  below  the  upper 
bench  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  and  is  closely  overlain  by  a  bed  of 
black  shale,  which  may  represent  the  lower  part  of  the  Murphysboro 
(No.  2)  bed  itself,  this  bed  appearing  in  several  of  the  logs  in  other  parts 
of  the  quadrangles  as  a  bifurcated  seam.  In  the  central  part  of  the 
area  this  bed,  which  is  gas-bearing  at  nearly  every  point  penetrated,  has 
a  thickness  of  6  to  8  feet  with  thin  breaks  enclosing,  in  one  or  two 
places,  thin  sheets  of  slightly  oil-bearing  sand.  It  thins  toward  the  east 
and  south,  but  even  where  no  sand  was  reported  the  overlying  black  shale 
was  found  to  contain  some  gas. 


7Kay,  F.  H.,  The  Carlinville  oil  and  gas  field:  Ill.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  20,  1912. 


94 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


In  the  Haake  No.  1  well  in  sec.  17  a  sandstone  bed  immediately 
underlies  “black  slate”  at  the  horizon  of  the  lower  bench  of  the  Murphys- 
boro  (No.  2)  coal.  This  is  thought  to  represent  in  part  a  sandstone 
lens  deposited  in  a  channel  cut  down  into  a  lower  sand  with  the  essential 
relations  shown  at  A  in  figure  20.  The  sandstone  reported  in  the  V. 
Hall  No.  1  well  also  probably  represents  a  similar  thickening  of  this 
sandstone,  as  does  also  the  upper  sand  in  Denby  No.  1.  This  bed  has 
been  productive  of*  a  moderate  quantity  of  gas  and  a  little  oil,  but  the 
sandstone  which  lies  just  below  has  been  more  productive. 

The  chief  oil  and  gas  horizon  is  commonly  separated  from  the  bed 
just  described  by  15  to  25  feet  of  shale.  It  lies  at  the  horizon  of  coal 
No.  1  about  385  feet  below  the  flood  plain  of  Macoupin  Creek  and  appears 
to  lie  in  a  channel  cut  into  the  beds  somewhat  later  than  the  deposition  of 
this  coal.  The  reason  for  so  regarding  it,  is  that  although  this  productive 
sand  horizon  is  present  in  the  wells  drilled  east  of  a  general  northeast- 
southwest  line  drawn  between  the  V.  Hall  No.  3  and  V.  Hall  No.  7  wells, 
it  is  absent  to  the  west.  In  the  Denby  No.  1  well  west  of  this  line  this 
part  of  the  section  contains  coal  No.  1,  whereas  in  the  V.  Hall  No.  3  well 
at  the  horizon  of  coal  No.  1,  black  shale  is  reported.  As  black  shale  is 
frequently  reported  in  place  of  this  coal  in  wells  in  other  parts  of  the 
district  it  is  thought  to  be  represented  in  this  log. 

In  the  other  holes  west  of  this  line  either  the  interval  is  reported  as 
shale,  which  is  a  conventional  non-committal  report  in  careless  logs  when 
no  sand  is  present,  or  the  interval  is  not  reported  at  all.  Whether  the 
sand  reported  in  the  V.  Hall  No.  1  well  is  really  an  excessive  thickening 
of  the  higher  sand  bed  or  whether  it  represents  a  protruding  arm  of  the 
lower,  more  productive  sand  may  be  open  to  question,  though  the  former 
appears  most  probable,  from  its  stratigraphic  relations.  East  of  the  line 
mentioned  all  of  the  holes  which  penetrate  to  this  depth  show  sand  at  the 
position  of  coal  No.  1. 

The  chief  producing  bed  is  from  30  to  45  feet  thick  and  is  split  into 
an  upper  gas-bearing  sand  and  a  lower  oil-bearing  sand  by  a  break  of  shale 
5  to  10  feet  thick.  If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  in  the  Hall  No.  7 
well  these  gas-  and  the  oil-bearing  horizons  are  in  contact  without  am- 
intervening  shale,  the  two  sandstones  might  be  considered  as  separate 
and  distinct  beds,  as  indeed  they  are  in  effect  in  most  of  the  wells.  It 
is  probable  that  the  shale  parting  between  the  beds  is  absent  at  other  points 
and  that  communication  from  one  to  the  other  is  thus  facilitated,  as  sug¬ 
gested  by  the  practical  absence  of  oil  from  the  upper  bed  and  of  gas  from 
the  lower. 

In  the  Anderson  well  one-half  mile  to  the  south  of  the  producing 
wells,  this  sand  is  represented  by  one  bed  27  feet  thick  lying,  on  account 
of  the  dip,  somewhat  lower  than  in  that  area.  Here  it  is  reported  to  be 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  ANI)  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


95 


very  fine  grained  and  nearly  dry.  In  the  Freeman  Hall  No.  2  well 
drilled  by  the  Impromptu  Company  only  a  thin,  slightly  oil-bearing  sand 
is  reported  probably  about  the  bottom  of  the  lower  part  of  this  member. 
Adjacent  parts  of  the  section  are  not  reported,  but  whether  the  sand  is 
actually  thicker  than  reported  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  the  oil-bearing 
portion  of  this  member  appears  to  be  present.  As  already  stated  the  oil-  and 
gas-bearing  parts  of  this  sandstone  are  in  contact  in  the  V.  Hall  No.  7  well 
without  any  intervening  shale.  Toward  the  west,  however,  a  sudden 
change  is  to  be  noted  between  this  well  and  the  V.  Hall  No.  3  well,  black 
shale  replacing  the  sand  in  the  latter.  No  sandstone  was  reported  at  the 
horizon  in  the  log  in  the  Freeman  Hall  No.  1  well  of  the  Ohio  Oil  Com¬ 
pany,  but  as  the  producing  member  is  reported  in  the  Freeman  Hall  No. 
2  well  of  the  Impromptu  Company,  only  a  short  distance  east,  a  similar 
wedging  out  is  thought  to  occur  between  these  holes  also. 

Still  another  and  deeper  sand  is  encountered  below  the  chief  producing 
sand.  It  lies  about  25  feet  below  coal  No.  1  and  appears  to  be  a  more 
persistent  and  continuous  layer  than  any  of  the  others.  It  appears  in  the 
logs  of  all  the  wells  in  the  field  which  have  penetrated  to  this  depth,  but  it 
has  been  found  to  contain  chiefly  salt  water,  though  in  a  few  instances, 
notably  the  Ohio  Oil  Company  well  on  the  Freeman  Hall  farm,  the  Best 
No.  1  well  of  the  Impromptu  Exploration  Company,  and  others,  traces  of 
oil  and  small  quantities  of  gas  were  observed.  Its  relations  to  the  higher 
sands  is  shown  in  Plate  VIII. 

Figure  19  shows  the  location  of  all  the  oil  wells  drilled  in  the  district. 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  arrangement  of  oil  and  gas  wells  in  the  area 
has  little  significance  since  some  of  the  holes  report  the  condition  of  one 
sand  bed  and  others  of  another.  They  therefore  do  not  indicate  any 
obvious  relationship  to  the  structural  dome  shown  in  figure  18. 

Plate  VIII,  though  primarily  designed  to  show  the  correlation  of  the 
sands,  shows  also  in  a  rough  way  the  structure  of  the  area  in  cross-section, 
the  logs  being  arranged  as  shown  on  the  key  map  (fig.  19).  Plate  VIII  is 
intended  to  show  also  that  there  is  no  one  particular  oil  or  gas  sand,  but 
that  at  and  below  the  horizon  of  the  Murphysboro  (No.  2)  coal  there  are 
present  a  number  of  sands  any  of  which  under  favorable  conditions  is 
capable  of  receiving  and  retaining  oil  and  gas ;  that  the  principal  bed  in 
which  oil  has  been  found  is  one  which  lies  at  the  horizon  of  coal  No.  1  ; 
that  this  bed  is  not  a  continuous  sheet  extending  across  the  area  like  the 
coal  beds  and  some  of  the  limestones,  but  that  it  occupies  what  was  origin¬ 
ally  a  broad  shallow  valley  cut  into  the  rocks  not  long  (geologically  speak¬ 
ing)  after  the  formation  of  coal  No.  1. 

This  valley  which  no  doubt  had  the  usual  irregular  configuration  of  a 
shallow  drain  with  more  or  less  meandering  course  and  subsidiary  tribu¬ 
taries  was  later  filled  with  silts  of  sand  and  mud  of  more  or  less  varying 


96 


OIL  INVESTIGATION’S 


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grain  and  distribution.  Sand  was  deposited  at  one  point  and  sandy  shale 
or  shale  at  another  until  the  original  channel  was  filled  and  covered.  The 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


97 


first  deposits  however  seem  to  have  been  sands  though  shale  appears  in  the 
middle  part  of  the  filling  in  some  places. 

The  width  of  the  sand  filling  the  old  basin  is  not  sharply  defined  by  the 
drilling.  It  is  present  in  the  Liston  No.  1  well  in  sec.  9,  but  the  black  shale 
horizon  of  coal  No.  1  appears  in  the  logs  of  the  Best  and  Sellers  wells 
in  sec.  10.  The  width  of  the  old  valley  at  this  point  appears  to  be  about 
\y2  miles.  On  the  east  of  the  channel  the  lens  is  35  or  40  feet  lower  than 
on  the  west,  and  there  is  therefore  less  opportunity  for  oil  to  accumulate 
since  there  is  a  tendency  for  it  to  rise  toward  the  highest  part  of  the  porous 
sand  body.  Small  pockets  of  oil  or  gas  may,  however,  occur  beneath  the 
irregular  roof  shale,  and  some  may  be  trapped  by  so-called  “breaks’1  in 
the  strata,  but  the  eastern  side  of  the  sand  body  at  this  point  is  regarded 
as  distinctly  unfavorable. 

The  breaking  off  of  the  sand  in  sec.  7  between  the  V.  Hall  No.  7 
and  the  V.  Hall  No.  3  wells  and  between  the  Freeman  Hall  No.  2  well  of 
the  Impromptu  Oil  Company  and  the  Freeman  Hall  No.  1  well  of  the 
Ohio  Oil  Company  already  discussed,  indicates  that  the  approximate 
margin  of  the  sand  passes  between  these  wells.  To  the  south  it  is  appar¬ 
ently  present  in  the  Haake  No.  1  well  in  sec.  17,  where  it  is  unproductive, 
probably  on  account  of  its  lower  elevation,  and  absent  in  Klein  No.  2  well 
in  sec.  18,  half  a  mile  to  the  northwest.  Toward  the  north  the  information 
at  hand  is  inadequate  though  the  main  oil-bearing  sand,  if  present  (which  is 
doubtful),  might  be  included  in  140  feet  of  undififerentiated  sandy  shales 
reported  immediately  above  the  gas  sand  in  a  deep  well  in  sec.  5.  The 
gas-bearing  sand  in  this  well  is  believed  to  be  the  basal  or  lowest  of  the 
sand  horizons  recognized  in  the  wells  so  far  drilled.  The  later  deformation 
and  tilting  of  the  beds  provided  a  pocket  in  the  wedge-shaped  uptilted  edge 
of  the  lense  favorable  to  the  accumulation  of  the  oil  particles  as  they 
migrated  upward  through  the  sandstone.  The  oil  as  now  found  occurs  at 
a  point  along  the  edge  of  the  lens  where  gentle  doming  of  the  rocks  has 
capped  the  edge  of  the  porous  strata  and  efifectually  prevented  the  escape 
of  the  oil  along  the  bedding  planes  as  shown  in  figure  20.  The  doming 
caused  a  portion  of  the  sand  wedge  to  be  elevated,  thus  forming  a  partic¬ 
ularly  favorable  situation  for  the  accumulation  of  oil  and  gas. 

It  is  thus  seen  that,  whereas  the  uptilted  wedge  of  sand  was  a  favorable 
condition,  the  accidental  occurrence  at  its  edge  of  a  gentle  dome  made  the 
situation  especially  good  for  trapping  the  oil  migrating  through  the  porous 
sands  of  the  old  channel. 

Although  the  possible  presence  of  oil  and  gas  in  the  other  sandstones 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  the  chief  interest  naturally  centers  in  the  sand¬ 
stone  which  has  been  the  chief  producer.  Future  drilling  should  take  into 
account  the  form  and  character  of  the  reservoir  in  which  the  oil  is  found. 
The  most  favorable  location,  as  just  stated,  appears  to  have  been  beneath 

7 — B — 31 


98 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


Fig.  20.  Idealized  section  through  a  dome,  showing  sand-filled  channels  in  cross-section,  points  of  accumulation  ol  oil  and  gas,  and 
direction  of  migration. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


99 


the  domed  edge  of  the  sandstone  lens  which  has  already  been  rather  well 
prospected.  The  next  most  favorable  situation  appears  to  be  along  the 
continuation  of  the  margin  of  the  old  channel  to  the  northeast  and  south¬ 
west  and  on  the  dip  to  the  east.  The  dip  to  the  east  has  been  prospected  by 
the  McClure  wells  No.  6  and  No.  8,  the  latter  of  which  was  found  to  be 
dry  at  a  depth  of  500  feet.  The  F.  Hall  No.  2  well  of  the  Impromptu 
Company,  though  a  little  oil  was  found  in  it,  did  not  give  much  promise 
for  future  prospecting  to  the  north.  A  hole  recently  drilled  680  feet  north 
of  Y.  Hall  No.  7  is  said  to  have  proved  dry  also.  These  holes  seem  to 
prove  the  futility  of  further  prospecting  in  this  direction  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  dome. 

The  dome  appears  to  be  much  sharper  on  the  north  side,  however,  than 
on  the  south,  so  that  the  probability  of  slight  extension  of  the  producing 
area  toward  the  south  is  better.  V.  Hall  No.  6  is  the  only  hole  drilled 
south  of  the  producing  area;  this  hole  is  at  some  distance  from  the  probable 
edge  of  the  productive  sand  lens,  and  too  far  away  from  the  nearest 
producing  well  to  condemn  the  intervening  territory.  The  depth  to  which 
it  was  drilled  is  not  known.  Favorable  unprospected  territory  probably 
lies  just  east  of  the  dotted  line  in  figure  19  and  not  far  south  of  V.  Hall 
No.  7  well. 

The  question  of  the  extension  of  the  field  seems  to  turn  on  whether 
the  reservoir  was  provided  by  the  dome  or  by  the  shape  of  the  sandstone 
body.  If  the  former  was  the  controlling  factor  the  limits  of  the  pool  as 
outlined  at  present  seem  to  have  been  reached.  If  the  latter  was  alone 
sufficient  to  cause  accumulation  of  the  oil,  then  doubtless  other  producing 
areas  will  be  found  along  the  edge  of  the  old  basin.  It  must  be  admitted, 
however,  that  even  taking  into  account  the  probable  meandering  course  and 
variable  nature  of  the  edge  of  such  a  sand  body,  the  evidence  at  hand 
seems  to  limit  the  oil-producing  area  to  the  part  of  the  sand  beneath  the 
dome. 

The  area,  however,  should  not  be  abandoned  without  investigating  the 
influence  of  the  dome  on  the  lowest  sandstone  bed.  It  has  been  shown  bv 

J 

several  borings  that  traces  of  oil  occur  in  this  bed  in  areas  structurally 
inadequate  to  effect  accumulation  and  indicate  that  oil  has  traversed  the 
bed.  An  area  favorable  to  accumulation  and  retention,  however,  occurs 
beneath  the  dome,  and  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  lowest  sand¬ 
stone  is  there  present,  the  conditions  are  believed  to  be  worth  testing  in  the 
lower  sand  at  this  place. 

General  Relations  of  Oil  to  Structure  and  Stratigraphy 

Whereas  the  study  of  the  Carlinville  and  Litchfield  oil  pools  is  less 
satisfactory  than  it  might  have  been  had  more  detailed  logs  been  available, 
the  information  at  hand  is  in  many  respects  unusually  good,  particularly 
in  the  Carlinville  field.  The  small  size  of  this  pool  makes  it  possible  to 


100 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


obtain  a  more  comprehensive  understanding  of  the  conditions  than  is 
usually  the  case  in  the  larger  oil  pools.  The  most  important  point  brought 
out  appears  to  be  that  the  oil  does  not  occur  in  distinct,  continuous  sand¬ 
stone  bodies,  but  is  found  in  sandstone  lenses  which  are  locally  discontin- 
uous  but  which  may  have  been  simultaneously  deposited  in  different  local¬ 
ities.  Thus,  whereas  the  producing  sand  near  Carlinville  which  is  deposited 
at  the  horizon  of  coal  No.  1  is  of  only  local  development,  a  similarly  situated 
gas-bearing  sand  which  cuts  out  coal  No.  1  in  the  Litchfield  area  in  the 
same  manner  may  be  its  stratigraphic  equivalent,  though  there  is  no  direct 
connection  between  them. 

Another  point  plainly  indicated  is  that  although  the  doming  is  important 
and  probably  is  the  ultimate  controlling  factor  in  causing  accumulations  of 
oil  and  gas,  the  position,  shape,  and  inclination  of  the  sand  lenses  is  also 
important  in  governing  the  local  relations  of  the  oil  to  the  dome.  It  will 
be  readily  understood  that  the  uptilted  edge  of  a  sandstone  lense  is  in  some 
respects  favorably  suited  to  the  trapping  of  oil.  There  is,  however,  a 
tendency  for  the  oil  and  gas  to  escape  along  the  bedding  planes  of  the 
enclosing  strata  as  indicated  by  the  arrows  in  figure  20.  There  must  also 
be  a  tendency  for  these  materials  to  travel  longitudinally  along  the  edge 
of  the  wedge  unless  this  is  horizontal  or  the  irregularities  in  deposition  of 
the  sand  present  barriers  to  such  circulation. 

It  should  be  evident  then  that  it  is  possible  for  accumulations  of  oil 
to  take  place  where  no  deformation  at  all  is  present,  but  so  far  as  known 
oil  has  not  been  observed  under  such  conditions  in  western  Illinois.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  sandy,  and  usually  micaceous,  shales  enclosing 
the  sandstones  in  the  lower  Pennsylvanian  are  not  sufficiently  close 
grained  or  impervious  to  prevent  the  circulation  and  escape  of  oil  and 
gas  under  pressure  along  bedding  planes. 

The  occurrence  of  a  dome  at  the  edge  of  a  sand  lens  unquestionably 
prevents  the  escape  of  oil  in  the  manner  suggested,  except  in  so  far  as 
minor  losses  occur  transverse  to  the  overlying  beds. 

The  accumulation  of  oil,  therefore,  while  occurring  beneath  a  dome 
(except  where  it  is  found  in  a  continuous  sandstone  stratum  or  in  a  lens 
completely  underlying  the  dome),  is  likely  to  have  an  eccentric  distribution 
in  regard  to  the  structure,  no  oil  at  all  occurring  on  one  side  of  the  dome. 
These  conditions  are  shown  graphically  in  figure  20.  the  arrows  indicating 
the  probable  direction  of  migration  of  the  oil  and  gas. 

The  presence  of  impervious  parts  in  a  sandstone  bed  would  tend  to 
restrict  the  oil  to  the  more  porous  parts  of  the  bed.  Therefore,  a  single 
unproductive  well  drilled  into  a  producing  sand  at  a  point  where  the  sand 
was  locally  close  grained  need  not  necessarily  condemn  the  immediately 
adjacent  territory,  though  of  course  this  is  often  the  case. 

The  movement  of  oil,  gas,  and  salt  water  from  one  part  of  a  sandstone 


SURVEYED  U 
U.  S.  GEC 
GEORGE  OT 


-LINOIS  STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

AMBERLIN.  E  j.  JAMES.  COMMISSION' 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  ELATE  IX 


R  B  Marshall,  Chief  Geographer 
W  H  Herron  Geographer  in  charge 
Topography  by  Frank  Tweedy,  C  W.  Goodlove. 

L.  L.  Lee.  and  R.M  Herrington 
Control  by  J.H.W.Ison  and  R.G.Clinite 

Surveyed  in  1912 

»J»Vf*tO  IN  COOeenAT'ON  WITH  TMt  AT  ATI  OF  ILLINOIS 


/  /,  j  ,  ._{§~ _ tPTr7 


Contour  interval  20feet. 
Datum  is  nxeart  sea  ZewL 


TOPOGRAPHY  AM)  GEOLOGIC  STRUCTURE.  GILLESPIE  QUADRANGLE 


LEGEND 
•  Diamond  drill 
+  Churn  drill 
X  Mine  shaft 
▼  Rock  outcrops  used 
y  Contour  showing  elevation  of  top  Herrin  (No.67 
coal  above  sea  level  Interval  25  feet 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


101 


series  to  another  by  interconnecting  sand  lenses  is  suggested  in  the  ideal¬ 
ized  sketch  in  figure  20.  At  the  point  marked  ‘‘A"  deposition  of  sediment 
gave  place  to  erosion,  and  a  local  channel  was  cut  sufficiently  deep  to  expose 
the  underlying  sand  body.  This  being  later  filled  with  pervious  sand 
furnishes  an  escape  into  higher  strata  in  the  manner  indicated  by  the  arrows. 

A  careful  study  of  all  the  available  logs  indicates  that  above  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  the  deformation  of  the  lower  beds  is  closely  reflected 
in  the  upper  beds ;  the  structures  are  shown  in  the  succeeding  overlying  beds 
in  the  same  localities.  The  higher  beds  above  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal, 
however,  appear  to  be  more  deformed  than  the  lower  beds  in  anticlinal 
areas.  This  appears  to  be  due  to  a  consistent  thickening  of  the  intervals 
between  recognizable  datum  planes  at  points  of  bending,  so  that  in  anticlinal 
areas  the  deformation  is  accentuated,  and  in  synclinal  areas  the  structures 
are  softened  in  passing  upward  from  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal.  What  the 
explanation  of  this  phenomenon  may  be,  or  whether  it  is  even  a  general 
fact  of  importance  beyond  the  confines  of  this  area  can  not  now  be  said. 
The  only  area  in  which  this  relation  between  structure  and  depth  could  be 
studied  below  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  is  that  of  the  Carlinville  oil  pool. 
Here  the  reverse  appears  to  be  true,  the  dome  which  characterizes  the 
structure  of  the  producing  area  being  much  less  pronounced  at  the  horizon 
of  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  than  below.  Whatever  the  quantitative  relation 
between  the  deformation  at  different  horizons,  the  fact  remains  that 
deformation  at  one  horizon  is  usually  significant  of  similar  deformation 
beneath.  A  single  possible  exception  to  this  rule  was  found  where  a  slight 
deformation  of  the  Carlinville  limestone  failed  to  be  reflected  in  the  beds 
below,  but  as  some  doubt  exists  at  this  point  as  to  the  presence  of  the  true 
Carlinville  limestone,  the  exception  is  not  damaging  to  the  general 
conclusion.  Eccentricity  of  the  position  of  the  oil  beneath  the  domes, 
however,  has  already  been  explained. 

Anticlinal  Areas  Favorable  to  the  Accumltlation  and  Retention 

of  Oil  and  Gas 

As  has  already  been  stated,  in  these  quadrangles  the  surface  of  the  coal 
on  which  the  conception  of  the  structure  is  based  is  very  irregularly  warped, 
rises  brokenly  from  east  to  west,  and  attains  an  elevation  on  the  west 
approximately  275  feet  higher  than  on  the  east.  Besides  the  domes  in  the 
oil-producing  areas  near  Carlinville  and  Litchfield  already  described  in 
detail,  a  number  of  other  more  or  less  sharply  accentuated  domes  were 
discovered  which  are  shown  in  Plates  IX  and  X. 

STAUNTON  DOME 

The  Staunton  dome  previously  described  by  R.  S.  Blatchley,8  appears 
to  lie  somewhat  farther  west  than  appeared  from  the  evidence  available  at 

8Blatchley,  R.  S.,  Oil  and  gas  in  Bond,  Macoupin,  and  Montgomery  counties;  Ill.  State 
Geol.  Survey,  Bull.  22,  p.  41.  1913. 


102 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


that  time.  The  dome  is  low,  having  an  elevation,  so  far  as  known,  of  only 
about  25  feet  above  the  lowest  point  to  the  south.  It  is  about  3  miles  long 
and  V/2  miles  wide  within  the  350-foot  contour  line  and  the  highest  known 
point  of  the  coal  within  this  area  lies  near  the  margin  and  is  15  feet  higher. 
Only  points  about  the  margin  of  the  dome  are  known,  however,  and  it  is 
possible  that  near  the  center  the  coal  is  higher  and  that  the  dome  is  more 
pronounced  than  present  information  indicates.  Toward  the  east  the  coal 
surface  slopes  rather  gently  to  the  next  lowest  contour  elevation;  toward 
the  north  and  west  it  falls  to  330  feet  before  rising  again  to  the  west ;  at 
the  south  end,  however,  it  is  separated  from  the  westward-rising  slope  by  a 
narrow  saddle,  probably  not  lower  than  340  feet.  As  there  are  no  exposures 
or  wells  in  the  central  part  of  the  dome,  only  prospecting  can  determine 
whether  the  central  part  rises  sufficiently  high  to  trap  effectively  the  migra¬ 
tory  oil  in  the  sandstone  beds  without  the  existence  of  sandstone  lenses. 
The  highest  part  of  the  dome  lying  above  the  350-foot  contour  contains  the 
southwest  and  southeast  corners  of  secs.  13  and  14  respectively,  the  east 
half  of  secs.  23  and  26,  the  west  half  of  secs.  24  and  25,  and  the  northeast 
and  northwest  quarters  of  secs.  35  and  36  respectively. 

SPANISH  NEEDLE  CREEK  DOME 

One  and  one-half  miles  slightly  east  of  south  from  the  Carlinville  gas 
and  oil  pool  a  series  of  exposures  of  the  Carlinville  limestone  in  Spanish 
Needle  Creek  indicate  a  rather  sharp  dome  which,  if  transmitted  downward 
to  the  coal  and  sandstones,  denotes  a  deformation  of  nearly  45  feet  at  the 
horizon  of  the  oil  sands.  The  highest  point  of  the  dome  as  indicated  by  the 
limestone  outcrops,  lies  at  the  center  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  south¬ 
west  quarter  of  sec.  21,  T.  9  N.,  R.  7  W.  A  subordinate  point  on  the  same 
dome  lying  nearly  as  high  was  noted  at  the  SE.  %  NW.  Ct  NW.  J4  sec.  28. 
That  part  of  the  coal  which  lies  above  the  375-foot  contour  underlies  an 
area  in  sec.  21  and  the  NE.  %  sec.  28,  T.  9  N.,  R.  7  W.  about  1J4  miles 
long  and  of  indeterminate  width.  The  highest  limestone  outcrop  represents 
an  elevation  of  407  feet  in  the  coal  and  the  subordinate  high  outcrop  to 
the  southeast  represents  a  height  of  395  feet.  The  axis  of  the  dome 
probably  extends  from  northwest  to  southeast. 

Toward  the  east  the  surface  of  the  coal  slopes  off  toward  the  next 
lowest  contour.  Toward  the  northwest  the  lowest  point  is  362  feet  near 
the  center  of  sec.  17,  indicating  a  gentle  slope  in  this  direction.  Toward 
the  west  there  is  little  information  in  the  immediate  locality,  but  in  sec.  29 
two  miles  to  the  southwest  the  elevation  of  the  coal  sinks  to  365  feet. 
Toward  the  east  and  southeast  the  surface  of  the  coal  merges  into  the 
general  southeastward  sloping  surface. 

If  the  producing  sandstone  lens,  discussed  under  the  subject  of  the 
Carlinville  oil  and  gas  pool,  maintains  a  constant  width  of  one  and  one-half 
miles,  its  eastern  edge  may  in  part  underlie  the  northwestern  slope  of  this 


U.  S.  G 
GEORGE  (j 


0!OD 


i 


i 


BULLETIN  NO.  31,  PLATE  IX 


I  I  INois  STATK  GKOLOGICAL  SUKVKV 


R  B  Marshall,  Chief  Geographer 
W  H  Herron  Geographer  in  charge 
Topography  by  Frank  Tweedy,  C  W.  Goodlove. 

L.  L  Lee,  and  R.M  Herrington 
Control  by  J.  H  Wilson  and  R.G.CIinite 
Surveyed  in  1912 

H  WITH  THf  •  TATI  or  ILLINOIS 


tUNVCTCO  IN  CO Or 


4000  2000  O  4000  8000  12000 

16000  Feet 

13  0  1  2  3  l 

3  Kilometers 

Contour  interval  20  feet. 

Datum  is  mean  sea,  level 

GEOLOGIC  STRUCTURE,  GILLESPIE  QUA 

IRANGLK 

*prro*'M»Tt  Mf»w 
OtCUMATION  ‘5'S 


LEGEND 
•  Diamond  drill 
t  Churn  drill 
X  Mine  shaft 
▼  Rock  outcrops  used 
/Contour  showing  elevation  of  top  Herrin  |  No  61 
jP5  coal  above  sea  Jevel  Interval  25  feel 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


103 


dome.  However,  if  the  deformation  of  the  lowest  and  most  persistent 
sandstone  bed  is  as  great  as  appears  from  the  surface  rocks  it  should 
furnish  a  promising  location  for  oil  independent  of  the  relation  of  lenticular 
sand  bodies. 


SOUTH  LITCHFIELD  DOME 

An  anticlinal  structure  of  uncertain  outline  appears  to  lie  about  four 
miles  southwest  of  Litchfield.  In  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec.  25,  T.  8  N., 
R.  6  W.  and  in  the  same  quarter  of  sec.  20,  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.,  the 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  was  found  to  lie  at  an  elevation  of  260  feet.  Midway 
between  in  the  SW.  %  sec.  20,  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.,  the  No.  6  coal  was  found 
in  a  drill  hole  at  300  feet,  40  feet  higher.  Two  other  intermediate  holes 
give  intermediate  elevations  of  the  coal.  Nothing  more  is  known  regard¬ 
ing  the  dome  or  its  configuration,  though  the  surface  has  been  shown 
conventionally  on  the  map  as  grading  evenly  toward  the  nearest  known  ele¬ 
vation,  in  some  cases  several  miles  distant.  The  700-foot  oil  well  in  the 
NE.  sec.  20,  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.  was  drilled  in  1906  without  success.  It 
should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  highest  observed  point  of  the  dome  is 
a  mile  to  the  southwest  of  this  well. 

BUTLER  ANTICLINE 

Outcrops  and  drill  holes  northeast  of  Butler  combine  to  indicate  that 
the  area  from  sec.  25,  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W.  to  sec.  4,  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W.  is 
distinctly  higher  structurally  than  neighboring  areas.  To  the  south  and 
east  of  Butler  the  datum  plane  slopes  away  perhaps  not  so  smoothly  as 
shown  at  the  rate  of  20  to  25  feet  to  the  mile,  whereas  outcrops  in  Shoal 
Creek  indicate  that  there  is  also  a  slope  to  the  north  or  northwest  in  sec. 
13,  14,  and  23,  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W.  A  small  dome  seems  to  be  indicated  just 
outside  the  area  by  the  unusual  elevation  of  certain  strata  in  a  well  drilled 
in  the  NE.  cor.  sec.  4,  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W.  This  well  was  reported  to  yield  a 
small  quantity  of  oil. 

An  anticlinal  area  is  indicated  on  Shoal  Creek  by  the  rise  of  the  Shoal 
Creek  limestone  from  576  feet  in  the  NE.  cor.  sec.  23  to  600  feet  in  the  NE. 
cor.  sec.  25,  and  its  fall  again  in  the  NW.  cor.  sec.  36  to  560  feet.  Near 
the  crest  of  this  arch  Schaffer  and  Smathers  drilled  a  hole  in  January, 
1915,  which  penetrated  a  sand  at  about  the  horizon  of  the  Litchfield 
productive  sands.  It  was  reported  to  be  dry,  but  it  contained  a  black, 
asphalt-like  stain  which  yielded  a  faint  rainbow  on  washing.  The  presence 
of  asphaltic  material  under  the  circumstances  of  its  occurrence  here  is  a 
little  difficult  to  explain.  It  appears  that  the  sandstone  in  which  it  occurs, 
is  a  lens  lying  at  the  same  horizon  as,  but  not  necessarily  connected  with, 
the  Litchfield  sand.  It  appears  also  that  it  was  once  a  repository  for  oil, 
and  that  the  oil  escaped  elsewhere  perhaps  in  part  as  gas  along  bedding 


104 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


planes,  leaving  a  residual  asphalt  adhering  to  the  grains  which  in  the  absence 
of  actively  circulating  water  has  never  been  removed. 

The  oil  well  and  dome  in  sec.  4,  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W.,  the  area  of  high  land 
northeast  of  Butler;  the  anticline  in  the  Shoal  Creek  limestone  on  Shoal 
Creek;  the  Litchfield  dome  and  the  dome  southwest  of  Litchfield  all  lie 
along  the  gentle  anticline  extending  at  least  8  miles  northeast  and  4  miles 
southwest  of  the  Litchfield  pool. 

Oil  is  or  has  been  present  in  three  of  the  structural  features  mentioned 
— the  Litchfield  dome ;  the  dome  in  sec.  4,  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W. ;  and  in  the 
anticline  on  Shoal  Creek  where  the  former  presence  of  oil  seems  to  be 
indicated  by  the  asphaltic  sand.  The  presence  of  oil  in  these  structures 
along  the  anticline  points  to  its  possible  presence  at  other  places  where 
sandstone  bodies  favorably  situated  and  of  favorable  lithologic  character¬ 
istics  coincide  with  anticlinal  structure.  It  may  be  said  that  the  entire 
length  of  the  anticline  is  favorable  territory,  though  the  most  favorable 
area  outside  the  recognized  domes  seems  to  lie  northwest  of  Butler  in 
secs.  7,  8,  9,  17,  18,  19,  and  20  of  T.  9  N.,  R.  4  W.  and  parts  of  secs.  13 
and  24  of  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W. 


MACOUPIN  DOME 

A  good  shale  exposure  at  the  railroad  bridge  over  Macoupin  Creek  in 
NE.  cor  sec.  27,  T.  9  N.,  R.  8  W.,  shows  the  beds  to  dip  about  10 
southeast  into  the  bank  of  the  creek.  Logs  of  holes  one-half  miles  south 
and  one  mile  west  (the  Rinaker-Benson  well  in  sec.  27  and  the  diamond 
drill  hole  in  sec.  23)  indicate  that  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  is  15  to  20  feet 
higher  at  these  points  than  would  be  the  case  if  the  rise  toward  the  west 
were  uniform.  It  seems  possible  therefore  that  some  deformation  may 
have  occurred  in  this  vicinity  and  that  a  possible  dome  exists  at  the  coal 
horizon  slightly  north  and  west  of  the  shale  exposure.  The  Rinaker- 
Benson  well  drilled  ^4  mile  south  of  the  railroad  bridge  is  said  to  have 
penetrated  limestone  at  a  depth  of  385  feet  below  the  surface  and  only  260 
feet  below  the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal,  and  as  reported  it  contained  no  sand¬ 
stone.  However,  the  Mutzbauer  well  drilled  in  the  flood  plain  of  Macoupin 
Creek  by  the  Ohio  Oil  Company  one  mile  northwest  of  the  bridge,  yielded 
a  little  gas  with  salt  water  in  sandstone.  This  well  was  only  351  feet  deep 
and  the  sand  lies  at  the  horizon  of  the  upper  bench  of  coal  No.  2.  The 
thinning  of  the  Pottsville  in  the  Rinaker-Benson  well  points  to  the  presence 
of  a  high  point  or  hill  on  the  old  pre-Pennsylvanian  surface  in  this  locality 
which  remained  as  an  island  at  least  until  the  latter  part  of  the  Pottsville 
.and  which  may  have  been  covered  at  so  late  a  date  as  to  prevent  the 
formation  of  the  oil  sands.  The  dome  as  shown  is  not  decisively  proved, 
and  it  is  not  certain  that  any  of  the  oil-bearing  sands  are  present  beneath  it. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


105 


SORENTO  ANTICLINE 

North  and  east  of  Sorento  occurs  a  curiously  warped  structure  which, 
nevertheless,  appears  to  be  well  substantiated  by  exposures  and  drill 
records.  The  structure  is  a  sharp  east-west  fold,  open  at  the  west.  On 
the  northeast  side  the  datum  plane  drops  off  very  sharply,  being  approxi¬ 
mately  75  feet  lower  at  Panama  than  on  Shoal  Creek  in  sec.  28,  T.  7  N., 
R.  4  W.,  a  distance  of  less  than  a  mile.  To  the  south  the  slope  is  less 
steep  and  to  the  north  the  difference  in  elevation  is  less  than  30  feet.  The 
structure  as  an  anticline  does  not  seem  particularly  favorable  to  the  reten¬ 
tion  of  oil  since,  in  a  continuous  sand  stratum,  there  would  be  nothing  to 
prevent  its  escape  to  the  west.  Considered,  however,  in  connection  with 
the  lenticular  sand  beds  which  characterize  the  oil-bearing  horizon,  it  may 
furnish  favorable  conditions  in  lenticular  sandstone  bodies  because  of  its 
steeper  slopes  and  anticlinal  character. 

OTHER  POSSIBLE  AREAS 

Many  small  and  merely  local  deformations  in  the  rocks  have  no  doubt 
evaded  detection,  and  when  the  slight  deformation  which  was  effective  in 
producing  the  Carlinville  oil  pool  and  its  small  area  are  taken  into  consider¬ 
ation,  it  will  readily  be  understood  that  there  may  be  many  apparently 
equally  favorable  localities  which,  through  lack  of  rock  exposures,  it  is 
not  possible  to  point  out. 

East  of  Plainview  in  the  northern  part  of  sec.  10,  T.  8  N.,  R.  8  W. 
the  beds  appear  to  be  higher  than  elsewhere  to  the  north,  east,  and  west, 
the  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  rising  to  419  feet  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  this 
section.  The  evidence  is  lacking,  however,  to  prove  positively  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  dome.  It  is  not  improbable  also  that  a  slight  upward  warping 
exists  west  of  the  Mt.  Pleasant  church  somewhere  near  the  common  corner 
of  secs.  3  and  4,  T.  8  N.,  R.  7  W.,  and  secs.  33  and  34,  in  T.  9  N.,  R.  7  W., 
the  contour  lines  swinging  around  this  area  suggestively. 

At  a  point  one  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  Taylor  Springs  in  the 
center  of  sec.  25,  T.  8  N.,  R.  4  W.,  and  also  at  a  point  one  or  one  and  one- 
half  miles  east  of  Hillsboro  (both  places,  however,  outside  the  area  critic¬ 
ally  examined)  the  contour  lines  swing  as  though  enclosing  dome-shaped 
structures,  but  the  positive  proof  is  lacking.  Just  southeast  of  Gillespie, 
however,  although  the  sweep  of  the  275-foot  contour  line  strongly  suggests 
a  dome,  the  drill  holes  and  mine  workings  demonstrate  that  the  area  is  one 
of  low,  gentle,  irregular  warpings  and  has  no  well-defined  dome  structure, 
which  shows  that  the  curvature  of  the  contour  lines  may  be  misleading. 

LOCAL  PRESENCE  OE  GAS 

Since  gas  found  in  the  drift  in  the  Carlinville  area  was  the  cause  of 
the  discovery  of  oil  and  gas  in  the  lower  rocks  it  can  scarcely  be  denied 


106 


OIL  INVESTIGATIONS 


that  this  phenomenon  is  to  a  certain  extent  an  indication  of  oil,  though  it 
is  more  likely  to  be  misleading  than  otherwise.  It  is  interesting  to  note, 
therefore,  though  probably  it  is  not  of  great  importance,  that  gas  has  also 
been  found  in  the  glacial  drift  at  Litchfield,  this  discovery  following  long 
after  the  exploitation  of  the  oil.  In  September,  1913,  a  well  on  the  farm 
of  Eggie  Rodenbeck  in  the  NW.  ^4  sec.  4  over  a  mile  west  of  the  oil  wells, 
having  gone  dry  was  drilled  12  feet  deeper.  At  53  feet  a  pocket  of  gas¬ 
bearing  quicksand  was  struck.  Suspecting  the  nature  of  the  gas  a  piece 
of  lighted  waste  was  thrown  into  the  well,  exploding  the  gas  with  such 
violence  as  to  throw  the  windlass  and  planking  some  distance  away  from 
the  top  of  the  well. 

O.  L.  Duncan  shortly  after  sunk  a  well  200  feet  distant  on  adjoining 
property  and  struck  the  gas  at  52  feet.  As  this  well  caved,  he  put  down 
another  which  struck  the  gas  at  46  feet.  The  original  pressure  in  the 
Rodenbeck  well  was  reported  to  be  7  or  8  pounds,  whereas  that  in  the 
Duncan  wells  was  only  about  half  this  amount.  The  gas  was  used  in  the 
houses  of  the  owners  of  the  wells,  but  in  the  fall  of  1914  had  almost  ceased 
to  flow.  Gas  was  also  reported  to  have  been  found  in  the  drift  near 
Hillsboro.  A  hole  drilled  to  prospect  the  coal  in  the  NW.  %  sec.  35  is 
said  to  have  given  off  gas  in  small  quantities  for  several  years.  In  1909 
a  hole  that  was  drilled  nearby  in  the  hope  of  striking  oil  reached  a  depth 
of  650  feet,  but  only  a  little  gas  was  found.  The  hole  drilled  several  years 
ago  on  the  Telfers  farm  in  sec.  22,  T.  8  N.,  R.  5  W.,  by  the  Producers 
Oil  Company  continues  to  yield  small  bubbles  of  gas. 

In  none  of  these  wells  is  the  horizon  from  which  the  gas  comes  known. 
The  presence  of  small  quantities  of  gas,  however,  has  little  significance, 
and  though  oil  is  usually  accompanied  by  gas,  the  reverse  is  commonly  not 
true. 


“KEROSENE”  SPRING 

In  the  SE.  J/\.  sec.  36,  T.  9  N.,  R.  5  W.  occurs  a  so-called  “kerosene" 
spring  which,  since  it  has  attained  some  local  notoriety,  it  seems  necessary 
to  describe.  The  spring  occurs  in  a  small,  steep-sided  gully  cut  in  the 
drift  a  short  distance  above  its  contact  with  “Coal  Measures"  shale.  The 
choking  of  the  gully  30  or  40  feet  below  the  spring  has  caused  the  formation 
of  a  putrefying  and  stagnant  mass  of  sticks,  dead  leaves,  and  clay.  The 
accumulation  is  three  feet  or  more  deep  and  under  normal  circumstances 
the  mouth  of  the  spring  is  choked  and  the  free  flow  of  the  water  is  pre¬ 
vented.  It  is  quite  saturated  with  oil  that  has  a  specific  gravity  of  45 r  B. 
and  practically  no  residue,  and  therefore  corresponds  closely  to  commercial 
kerosene.  It  appears  as  an  iridescent  film  on  the  water  and  is  distinctly 
more  conspicuous  when  the  mushy  mass  is  disturbed  in  any  way. 


OIL  AND  GAS  IN  GILLESPIE  AND  MT.  OLIVE  QUADRANGLES 


107 


In  order  to  demonstrate  whether  the  spring  could  be  regarded  as  the 
source  of  the  oil,  the  boggy  material  was  dug  out  so  that  there  was  a  free 
flow  of  water  from  the  spring;  an  auger  hole  was  bored  horizontally  into 
the  spring  at  the  point  of  greatest  flow  and  a  pipe  was  thrust  6  feet  into 
the  bank  thus  obtaining  a  source  of  water  quite  uncontaminated  by  the 
material  about  the  mouth  of  the  spring.  The  water  flowing  from  the  pipe 
was  then  caught  in  a  bucket  especially  contrived  to  catch  and  retain  any 
floating  particles  of  oil.  After  three  hours’  test  not  the  slightest  oil  film 
was  found  in  the  bucket  and  the  water  was  found  to  be  sweet  and 
palatable.  The  water  flowing  from  the  spring  was  also  observed  to  be¬ 
come  free  from  iridescent  skum.  It  is  concluded,  therefore,  that  what¬ 
ever  the  source  of  the  oil  about  the  mouth  of  the  spring  it  is  not  derived 
from  the  spring  itself.  The  kerosene,  which  completely  saturates  the 
diminutive  bog,  is  prevented  from  evaporating  by  an  annual  layer  of  freshly 
fallen  dry  leaves,  and  is  prevented  from  escape  by  means  of  ordinary  circu¬ 
lation  by  the  practically  impervious  nature  of  the  pulpy  mass. 

It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  the  oil  may  have  been  held  in  its  present 
position  for  a  number  of  years,  for  practically  the  only  opportunity  for 
escape  is  when  the  mass  is  trodden  upon  or  disturbed  by  digging. 


INDEX 


A 

PAGE 

Adams,  C.  F.,  well . 64,67 

Allendale  field,  discovery  of .  59 

oil  horizons  in . 64,65 

production  in . 59,61,66-67 

prospecting  in . 61,67-68 

stratigraphy  of . 61-65 

structure  in  . 59,65-67 

topography  of .  61 

Alluvium  south  of  Colmar  field .  12 

Anderson  well .  94 

Andrews,  Tyler,  assistance  by .  59 

Archimedes  in  Warsaw  formation..  21 

Armstrong,  W.  H.,  well .  64 

Arvm,  M.  A.,  assistance  by .  59 

B 

Baldwin,  A.  E.,  assistance  by .  59 

Batchtown,  Niagaran  at .  23 

Beard  well .  32 

Beechville,  Kimmswick-Plattin  at...  24 

Belleville  coal,  see  coal  A To.  6 

Best  well .  97 

Biehl  sand  in  Allendale  field . 64,  68 

Biehl  well . 59,  66 

Birmingham,  anticline  near .  38 

drilling  at .  28 

Blackburn,  W.  C.,  assistance  by .  10 

Blatchley,  R.  S.,  work  by . 10,  73 

Bond  County,  early  work  in .  73 

Bott  well . 44,  46 

Brachiopods  in  Warsaw  formation.  .  22 

Breese,  Carlinville  limestone  near.  .  .  82 

Shoal  Creek  limestone  near .  82 

Bremen  anticline .  69 

Brown,  Frank,  assistance  by .  73 

Brown  County,  structure  in .  34 

Browning,  coal  No.  2  at .  29 

St.  Louis  limestone  near .  30 

Bryozoans  in  Warsaw  formation.  .  .21,  22 
Buchanan  sand  in  southeastern  field  64 

Bunker  Hill,  topography  near .  74 

Burlington  limestone  in  Colmar  field  22 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 
Butler  anticline . 103-104 


C 

Calhoun  Countv,  Kimmswick-Plattin 
in  . .' .  24 

Niagaran  in .  23 

Cambrian  formation  in  Gillespie-Mt. 
Olive  quadrangles . 74-75 


PAGE 


Cape  Girardeau  limestone  in  Gilles¬ 
pie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles .  75 


Carbondale  formation  in  Allendale 


field .  63 

in  Colmar  field . 17-18 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

.  76.77-81 

in  Litchfield  field .  90 

section  o  f .  14 


Carboniferous  formations,  sections 


of . 14-17,39 

Carlinville  limestone  in  Gillespie-Mt. 

Olive  quadrangles . 82-83,  101 

Carlinville  oil  field,  structure  in. 87,  91-99 

Carolyn  Smith  farm,  dome  on . 66,67 

well  on .  67 


Cass  County,  coal  No.  3  in .  78 

Chester  beds,  absence  of  oil  in .  64 

in  Allendale  field . 64,68 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 

in  Randolph  County .  69 


Chonetes  mesolobus .  15 

Coal  No.  1  in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive 
quadrangles .  77 

Coal  No.  2,  at,  in,  or  near: 

Allendale  field .  63 

Browning  .  29 

Carlinville  field .  90 

Frederick .  29 

Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

.  76,  78.  81 

Hancock  Count}' .  29 

Littleton .  29 

Mabel  . .  29 

Pleasant  View .  29 

Rushville  .  29 

Schuyler  County .  29 

south  of  Colmar  field .  18 

structure  of . 30-31 

use  of,  as  key  rock . 11,29 

Coal  No.  3  group . 76.  78,  80,  92 

Coal  No.  4  in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive 

quadrangles  .  79 

Coal  No.  5  in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive 

quadrangles .  79 

near  Rushville  .  12 

south  of  Colmar .  18 

Coal  No.  6  in  Allendale  field . 63,64 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

.  76  79,  85,  101 

south  of  Colmar .  17 

Colchester,  St.  Louis  limestone  near  26 

Colchester  coal,  see  coal  A To.  2 

Collins  No.  1  well . 41,42,43 

Colmar  dome .  43 


008) 


INDEX — Continued 


109 


PAGE 

Colmar  field,  drilling  in .  38 

extension  of . 44-45 

oil  horizon  in .  45 

prospecting  in .  44 

structure  in . 28,  45 

Crawford,  A.  W.,  assistance  by .  73 

Crawford  County,  accumulation  of 

oil  in .  26 

Crinoids .  15 

D 

Davis,  David,  assistance  by .  73 

Denby  No.  1  well . 93,94 

Devonian  beds  in  Colmar  field ...  .23,  39 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 

Drift,  gas  in . 106 

in  Allendale  field .  61 

in  Colmar  field . 13-14 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  85 

Duncan  wells .  106 

Duncanville  oil .  91 

F 

Fess,  Ora,  assistance  by .  59 

Field  work,  method  of .  11 

Flitz,  Mark,  well . 74,  75 

Frederick,  coal  No.  2  at .  29 

St.  Louis  limestone  near .  30 

structure  near .  34 

Fusulina  secalica  in  Gillespie-Mt. 

Olive  quadrangles .  76 

G 

Gas  in  drift .  106 

in  Niagaran  formation .  23 

near  Carlinville . 91-99 

near  Litchfield . 87-91 

Gillespie,  Carlinville  limestone  near  82 

dome  near .  105 

drainage  near .  74 

limestone  near .  83 

Shoal  Creek  limestone  near .  82 

stratigraphy  near . 74-85 

topography  near .  74 

Gordon  well  .  32 

Greenville,  oil  at .  91 

Griggsby  No.  1  well . 23,  39,  40,  42,  43 

Girtyina  ventricosa  in  Gillespie-Mt. 

Olive  quadrangles .  76 

H 

Haake  No.  1  well . 94,97 

Hall  wells. _ . # . 93,  94,  95,  97 

Hamilton  limestone  in  Colmar  field.  40 
stratigraphic  relation  to  Niagaran  23 

Hammann  farm  wells .  91 

Hancock  County,  coal  No.  2  in .  29 

Hare,  Mr.,  assistance  by .  10 

Hartsook  No.  1  well .  44 

Herrin  coal,  see  coal  No.  6 

Hinds,  Henry,  coal  contours  by .  42 

work  by  . 10,  30,  38 


PAGE 

Hillsboro,  anticlinal  structure  near.  .  105 


gas  in  drift  near .  106 

moraines  near .  85 

Hoing  oil  sand,  description  of .  24 

in  Colmar  field .  40 

structure  of .  40 

Hoing  well,  section  of .  16 

Hood  H.,  assistance  by .  73 

Huntsville,  dome  near .  34 

St.  Louis  limestone  near . 21,  30 

Hurd,  E.  J.,  assistance  by .  73 

I 

Ibbetson,  E.  A.,  assistance  by .  73 


J 


Jacksonville,  oil  at .  91 

Jones-Prout-Litherland  terrace .  66 

K 

Keokuk  limestone,  in  Gillespie-Mt. 

Olive  quadrangles .  75 

south  of  Colmar  field .  22 

Kerosene  Spring,  discussion  of..  106-107 
Kerr,  J.  K.,  assistance  by .  59 

Kimmswick-Plattin  limestone  (Tren¬ 
ton),  description  of .  24 

in  Calhoun  County .  24 

in  Colmar  field .  40 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 
oil  in  . 40,  43,  46 

Kinderhook  shale,  in  Colmar  field  23,  39 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 
Kirkwood  sand  of  southeastern  field  64 
Klein  wells . 93,  97 


L 

Lamberton,  P.  B.,  assistance  by....  11 

Lamoine  Oil  and  Gas  Co.,  assistance 


by .  11 

Lamoine  terrace  . 43 

La  Salle  anticline,  influence  on  oil 

accumulation  of . 26,28 

Lawler,  Frank,  assistance  by .  11 

Lawrence  County,  accumulation  of 

oil  in .  26 

Lingula  . 14,15,18 

Liston  No.  1  well .  97 

Litchfield,  Shoal  Creek  Limestone 

near .  82 

structure  near  . 86,  37 

topography  near  .  74 

Litchfield  mine,  coal  No.  1  at .  77 

coal  No.  3  at .  78 

Litchfield  oil  field,  structure  in . 87-91 

Lithostrotion  canadense .  19 

Littleton,  coal  No.  2  at .  29 

dome  near .  30 


110 


INDEX — Continued 


PAGE 

Livingston  County,  coal  No.  3  in.  . . .  78 


Loess  in  Allendale  field .  63 

south  of  Colmar .  13 

M 

Mable,  coal  No.  2  at .  29 

McCloskv  sand  in  Allendale  field.. 67-68 

McFadden  wells .  44 

McLeansboro  formation  in  Allendale 

field  .  63 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

. 76,81-85 

in  Litchfield  field .  90 

McMillen  wells .  65 

McWilliams  well  No.  3 .  90 

Macomb,  dome  near .  38 

Macon  County,  coal  No.  3  in .  78 

Macoupin  County,  coal  No.  3  in .  78 

early  work  in .  73 

Macoupin  dome,  description  of..  104-105 
Maquoketa  shale,  in  Colmar  field..  40 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 

relation  of  oil  sand  to .  28 

south  of  Colmar  field .  23 

Marshall  County,  coal  No.  3  in .  78 

Meramec  beds  in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive 

quadrangles .  75 

Mississippian  series  in  Allendale  field  64 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

. .  75-76 

section  of .  15-17 

Montgomery  County,  coal  No.  3  in.  .  78 

early  work  in .  73 

Moore,  Roy,  assistance  by .  10 

Mt.  Olive,  drainage  near .  74 

stratigraphy  near . 74-85 

structure  near .  87 

topography  near .  74 

Mulinax  wells . 66,67 

Murphysboro  coal,  see  coal  No.  2 
Mutzbauer  well .  93 

N 

Niagaran  formation,  gas  in .  23 

Hoing  oil  sand  in . 24  40 

oil  in .  23 

south  of  Colmar  field .  23 

Nokomis,  Chester  beds  near .  75 

O 

Ohio  Oil  Co.,  assistance  by . 11,59 

Oil,  at,  in,  or  near : 

Allendale  field . 64,65,66 

Carlinville  . 91-99 

Colmar  field . 42,45 

Kimmswick-Plattin  formation  24,  34 

Litchfield  . 87-91 

Niagaran  .  23 

Randolph  County .  69 


discovery  of,  south  of  Colmar  field  10 


PAGE 

origin  of .  44 

prediction  of . 27-29 

production  in  Allendale  field  59,61,66 

in  Colmar  field . 42,43 

south  of  Colmar  field .  10 

relation  to  structure  of . 97-105 

“sour” .  44 

“sweet” . 44,46 

Orbiculoidea . 14,  15,  18 

Osage  limestone  in  Colmar  field....  39 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 

P 


Panama,  Sorento  anticline  near .  105 

structure  near . 86,87 

Pearson  well . 32,34 

Pearson,  Henry,  assistance  by .  10 

Pelecypods  in  Warsaw  formation.  . .  22 

Pennsylvanian  series  in  Allendale 

field  .  63 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quad¬ 
rangles  . 76-85 

in  Randolph  County .  69 

south  of  Colmar’. . 14—15 

water-bearing  horizon  in .  63 

Pike  County,  source  of  gas  in .  23 

Plainview,  anticlinal  structure  near  105 

limestone  near  . 83 

Pottsville  beds  near .  77 

structure  near  .  87 

Plymouth,  anticline  near .  38 

Pleasant  View,  Carbondale  forma¬ 
tion  near .  18 

coal  No.  2  at .  29 

Production  in  Carlinville  field .  91 

in  Litchfield  oil  field .  88 

Productus  .  15 

Pottsville  formation,  absence  of  oil 

in  .  64 

gas  in .  91 

in  Allendale  field .  63 

in  Colmar  field . 18-19 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quad¬ 
rangles  . 76,  77-81 

in  Macoupin  dome .  104 

section  of .  15 

Prospecting  in  Allendale  field. .  .61,  67-68 

in  Colmar  field .  44 

south  of  Colmar . 27-29  31-34 

Q 

Quaternary  deposits  in  Gillespie-Mt. 

Olive  quadrangles .  85 

R 

Randolph  County,  geology  of .  69 

Reese,  John,  assistance  by .  73 

Rinaker,  T.  A.,  assistance  by .  73 

Rinaker-Benson  well .  104 

Rich,  John  L.,  work  by .  10 

Richmond  shale,  description  of .  23 

section  of,  in  Colmar  field .  40 


INDEX — Continued 


Ill 


PAGE 

Roberts  No.  1  well. . .  .38,  42,  43,  44,  45.  46 


Ross,  John,  assistance  by .  73 

Rushville,  coal  No.  2  at .  29 

coal  No.  5  near .  12 

Kimmswick-Plattin  (Trenton)  at  34 

oil  near .  34 

well  near  .  34 

S 

St.  Francisville,  oil  field  at .  59 

St.  Louis  limestone,  at,  in,  or  near: 

Browning  .  30 

Colmar  field  .  39 

Frederick .  30 

Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  75 

Huntsville  . 21,  30 

Schuyler  County .  30 

south  of  Colmar . 15,  19-21 

structure  of . 30-31,41 

use  of,  as  key  horizon . 11,29 

St.  Peter  sandstone,  absence  of  oil  in  40 
in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

. . .  74-75 

water  in  . 40.  75 

Salem  formation  in  Colmar  field...  21 

south  of  Colmar .  15 

Salt  water  in  Colmar  field . 28,43 

Savage,  T.  E.,  assistance  by .  59 

Schafer,  John  H.,  well . 64,67 

Schuyler  County,  coal  No.  2  in .  29 

St.  Louis  limestone  in .  30 

Scott  County,  coal  No.  3  in .  78 

Sellers  well  .  97 

Shoal  Creek  limestone  in  Gillespie- 

Mt.  Olive  quadrangles .  82 

near  Butler .  103 

Shoal  Creek  syncline .  86 

Sian  Oil  Co.,  assistance  by .  59 

Silurian  rocks  in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive 

quadrangles .  75 

Smith,  A.  D.,  assistance  by .  59 

Smith,  C.,  No.  9  well .  64 

Smith,  Edwin,  well . 66,67 

Smith,  Jacob,  well .  67 

Snowden  Bros.  &  Co.,  assistance  by  11,  59 
Sorento,  Shoal  Creek  limestone  near  82 
Sorento  anticline,  description  of....  105 

South  Litchfield  dome .  103 

Spanish  Needle  Creek  dome . 102-103 

Spergen  limestone  in  Gillespie-Mt. 
Olive  quadrangles .  75 


PAGE 

Sporangites  in  Upper  Devonian .  23 

Springfield  coal,  see  coal  No.  5 

Stark  well  .  32 

Staunton,  Carlinville  limestone  near  82 

Shoal  Creek  limestone  near .  82 

structure  near .  87 

Staunton  dome . 101-102 

Structure  in  Allendale  field ...  .59,  65-67 

in  Carlinville  oil  field .  93 

in  Colmar  region . 25,  45 

in  Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles 

.  85-105 

in  Randolph  County .  69 

method  of  determination  of..  11,  24-25 
relation  of  oil  accumulation  to.  .  . . 

.  11,26-29,97-105 

Structure  contours,  explanation  of  85-86 
Superior  Coal  Co.,  assistance  by. ...  73 

T 

Taylor  Springs,  anticlinal  structure 


near .  105 

Telfers  well .  106 


Trenton  limestone,  see  Kimmswick- 


Plattin 

U 

Udden,  Jon  A.,  work  by .  81 

Urschel  &  Co.,  assistance  by .  11 

V 

Van  Tuyl,  F.  M.,  work  by .  10 


Vergennes  sandstone,  absence  of,  in 

Gillespie-Mt.  Olive  quadrangles  81 

W 

Wabash  County,  discovery  of  oil  in  59 
Warsaw  limestone  in  Gillespie-Mt. 


Olive  quadrangles .  75 

south  of  Colmar . 15,21-2 2 

Water  in  St.  Peter  sandstone . 40,75 

Wear,  J.  M.,  well,  log  of .  38 

Weller,  Stuart,  early  work  by .  10 

White,  David,  paleo-botanical  work 

by .  76 

Wolf,  William,  wells .  66 


